Sep 14, 2015 ASDNews Source : Northrop Grumman Corporation

In a U.S. Navy field test, Northrop Grumman Corporation's (NYSE:NOC) AQS-24B mine hunting system successfully demonstrated the ability to perform synthetic aperture sonar processing at 18 knots in real time. The AQS-24B was developed at Northrop Grumman's Undersea Systems campus in Annapolis. The field testing took place at the U.S. Navy Central Command in Bahrain, May 19-28. The AQS-24B finished 12 for 12 in successfully executing missions during the test exercise. During separate Tactics Development trials in Panama City, Florida, the AQS-24B achieved a record long single sortie tow duration of 16.25 hours from a surface ship.

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17 Mars 2015 Par Marine & Océans

À l’heure où le monde se préoccupe toujours plus de la sûreté et de la sécurité des espaces maritimes, SeaProven, société mayennaise innovante en recherche et développement maritime, présente le Sphyrna, le premier drone marin multimissions français.

:03/12/2014 CESM

 

• Quelle est la pensée stratégique accompagnant le programme Drone de la Marine ?

• Quel est le retour d'expérience du déploiement de ces nouveaux membres d'équipage sur les bâtiments de la Marine nationale ?

• Quelle est le niveau de responsabilité que nous serons amenés à déléguer à l'intelligence artificielle ?

• En quoi les drones nous permettent-ils de mieux remplir nos missions ?

C'est à ces questions que tentera de répondre le colloque organisé par le CESM le 17 décembre 2014. 

Entre vision à 15 ans et état des lieux de la technologie, les intervenants (DGA, Ifremer, EMA, IRSEM, EMM) participeront à la réflexion menée dans les armées comme le secteur civil pour l'intégration de ces nouveaux outils bien particuliers.

 

Le programme

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colloques@cesm.fr en précisant vos nom, prénom et organisme.

9 Oct.,2014 by Lazarus - informationdissemination.net


The recent successful test of a swarm of U.S. small boats for escort duties has again triggered questions regarding the use of “killer” drone vehicles. Antiwar groups, legal scholars and even the United Nations have taken strong stands against the use of so-called “killer robots” by the United States. Although many of these protests stem from the use of unmanned aerial vehicles (UAV’s), there is a developing general unhappiness with drone units. This is unfortunate since unmanned vehicles represent the best means for the U.S. and other Western states to increase their military capabilities against the threat of rising or rouge states bent on aggressive activity. Much of the public mistrust of drones has been shaped by science fiction stories and films rather than science fact. Drones have in fact been a distinct part of warfare since the development of mine. Finally, while platforms with unfortunate names like the Predator and Reaper have become the demon “poster children” of drone warfare, there are many other well developed and controlled offensive and defensive applications of drone units that cannot be ignored by U.S. and Western military planners.

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A U.S. Navy mine hunting unmanned surface vehicle. (Northrop Grumman)

ANNAPOLIS, Md., Oct. 7 By Richard Tomkins  (UPI)

The U.S. Navy and Northrop Grumman had demonstrated mine-hunting capabilities in the Gulf using a Navy unmanned vessel and a company sensor system.

Northrop Grumman has successfully demonstrated its mine detecting sensor system for the U.S. Naval Forces Central Command in Manama, Bahrain.

The demonstration was performed with the Mine Hunting Unmanned Surface Vehicle, or MHU, in the Arabian Sea and highlighted the capabilities of the vessel with the sensor system.

"We are encouraged by the progress made with MHU 1 and 2 in 5th Fleet," said Capt. David Honabach, PMS 406 Unmanned Maritime Systems program manager, U.S. Navy. "We are also pleased that we could successfully demonstrate this capability to a key coalition partner in the Arabian Gulf region and look forward to Flight 2 Mine Hunting Unmanned Surface Vehicles for future success."

Added Tom Jones, vice president, Undersea Systems, Northrop Grumman: "This Navy demonstration, along with the continued investments we are making across the USV and mine-hunting technology spectrum, demonstrate that Northrop Grumman is committed to assisting the Navy and our coalition partners in defeating the maritime mine threat while keeping sailors out of the minefield."

Northrop Grumman said the demonstration involved the remote-controlled MHU executing a preplanned mission by transiting to an operational area, deploying the AQS-24A, conducting a search pattern and then recovering the sensor. Sensor sonar data were sent in real time using a tactical data link to a command-and-control station.

Additional details of the demonstration were not disclosed.

03 oct. 2014 US Navy

05-02-2014 Source: Xinhua

L'entreprise publique Israel Aerospace Industries (IAI) a dévoilé mardi le dernier venu de ses véhicules marins de surface sans pilote (USV) -- un système de combat naval appelé KATANA, pour la sécurité du territoire.

Le système KATANA inclut la navigation autonome ainsi qu'un système pour éviter les collisions. Il dispose de plusieurs é quipements embarqués dont des systèmes de caméras électro-optiques et infrarouges, de communications avec ou sans visibilité, de radars, ainsi que d'armements, a indiqué IAI dans un communiqué.

IAI précise que le véhicule, développé par Malam, permet une large variété de missions, dont la protection des zones é conomiques exclusives (ZEE), des frontières maritimes et des plateformes gazières ou des gazoducs offshore, ainsi que la sé curité portuaire, les patrouilles en eaux peu profondes et la guerre électronique.

Il peut également fournir une imagerie de renseignement en temps réel en identifiant, suivant et classifiant les cibles à proximité et à distance, et peut faire feu si nécessaire, selon le communiqué.

Il est capable d'opérations totalement autonomes ou peut être contrôlé à distance par un opérateur humain, ajoute le communiqué.

"Nous sommes fiers de présenter le dernier né de notre gamme d'USV. Il est le fruit d'un processus de développement qui a duré plusieurs années," a expliqué à Xinhua un cadre d'IAI.

Un autre responsable de l'entreprise, s'exprimant sous couvert d'anonymat, a refusé de commenter si des contrats pour vendre le vaisseau étaient en négociation.

Les USV sont de plus en plus prisés par les armées du monde entier depuis l'attaque suicide contre l'USS Cole en octobre 2000 dans le port d'Aden, au Yémen, qui avait coûté la vie à 17 marins et en avait blessé des dizaines d'autres.

Le groupe Rafael Advanced Defense Systems, basé à Haifa, a commencé à développer le Protector, équipé de missiles, qui fut le premier USV de combat opérationnel au monde, suite à cette attaque et face aux nouvelles menaces navales. Fin

ANNAPOLIS, Md. – June 10, 2013 – Northrop Grumman

Northrop Grumman Corporation has been awarded a contract to support the U.S. Navy's integration onto an unmanned surface vehicle (USV) of the Northrop Grumman-built AQS-24A Side Look Sonar System to look for bottom and volume mines remotely.

The repackaging of the sonar for USV use will build upon the proven capabilities of the AQS-24A. The AQS-24A and its predecessors, the AQS-24 and the AQS-14, all built by Northrop Grumman, are airborne minehunting search systems used by the Navy for the past 28 years. The AQS-24A is a high-speed minehunting system that is primarily towed from the MH-53E helicopter, but has been tested from USVs since 2002 by Northrop Grumman. With a track record of reliability and performance across the globe, the system's high-resolution side-scan sonar detects, localizes and classifies both bottom and moored mines in real time at high area coverage rates.

"This is a great step forward for those who have been involved in USVs and minehunting for as many years as the Naval Undersea Warfare Center and Northrop Grumman," said Tom Jones, vice president of Northrop Grumman's Undersea Systems business unit. "The results of this effort could apply to future USV programs, both in the U.S. Navy as well as the navies of potential coalition partners such as Australia."

In cooperation with the Navy and industry partners, Northrop Grumman has operated USVs in various tests and fleet exercises that range from remote control to autonomous operations. The Naval Undersea Warfare Center in Newport, R.I., Naval Surface Warfare Center (NSWC) in Panama City, Fla., NSWC Carderock Division in West Bethesda, Md., NSWC Combatant Craft Division in Norfolk, Va., and Northrop Grumman jointly developed an 11-meter USV that launched, recovered and towed the AQS-24A.

Northrop Grumman is a leading global security company providing innovative systems, products and solutions in unmanned systems, cyber, C4ISR, and logistics and modernization to government and commercial customers worldwide. Please visit www.northropgrumman.com for more information.

photo RP Defense - Euronaval 2012

TEL AVIV, Israel, Oct. 29 (UPI)

The U.S. military is reported to be testing a missile-armed, remote-controlled robotic boats developed by Israel's Rafael Advanced Defenses Systems, possibly to bolster its naval capabilities in the Persian Gulf where it's locked in a mainly maritime confrontation with Iran.

The mass-circulation Yedioth Ahronoth reports that the Americans see a possible use for the 30-foot unmanned Protector boats, which can carry one bow-mounted 7.62mm machine gun or anti-ship missiles, against Iranian suicide boats manned by Revolutionary Guards.

The small Iranian vessels are intended to "either block or attack any American aircraft carrier making its way through the Strait of Hormuz," the newspaper said.

Iran has threatened to close that narrow waterway, the only way in and out of the Persian Gulf, if it is attacked. One-third of the world's oil supplies pass through the 112-mile channel every day.

The Israeli navy is reported to be operating Protectors armed with multipurpose anti-armor Spike missiles, which are also built by Haifa's Rafael. Britain's BAE Systems and Lockheed Martin helped develop the unmanned boats.

Yedioth reports that last Wednesday the U.S. Navy test-fired six missiles from several unmanned surface vessels off the coast of Maryland. The daily gave no other details but observed that "all ... were reportedly accurate."

Wired magazine, which monitors new weapons systems, quoted Mark Moses, the U.S. Navy's drone boats program manager, as saying, "The tests are a significant step forward in weaponizing surface unmanned combat capability."

The Protectors "could be used for a number of applications, including harbor security, and in various defensive operations and scenarios, which are of primary concern for the Navy," Moses added.

Yedioth reported that any U.S. contract to buy Protector is "expected to amount to millions of dollars." But it noted that the Americans may arm any boats it buys with U.S.-built missiles, such as the Javelin or the Hellfire, rather than Israeli-made weapons.

These are both combat-proven systems modified for naval deployment. The FGM-148 fire-and-forget Javelin anti-tank weapon is built by Raytheon and Lockheed Martin. The AGM-114 Hellfire is produced by Lockheed Martin.

The Protector is already in service with the Israeli and Singaporean navies. It can reach speeds of 42 miles per hour. Its machine gun is capable of staying on target even in rough seas.

The boat carries radar and sonar systems and at least four cameras to identify targets, with electro-optical systems to provide 3-D imaging.

Noam Brock, who headed the Rafael team that developed the Protector, said the boat can operate at night and cope with heavy seas.

"Its systems are so advanced they can track the flight of a single bird," he said in 2006.

"The next step ... will be to equip the system with greater attack capabilities." That seems to have been achieved.

Rafael officials also see Protector having an anti-piracy mission, possibly against the Somalia pirate gangs marauding across the Indian Ocean, or the growing threat in the Atlantic off West Africa, a major oil-producing zone.

Other USVs are also on the market. One is the 21-foot Interceptor manufactured by Marine Robotic Vessels International of Florida. It can make speeds of 55 mph and has reportedly emphasized reconnaissance over firepower.

In late 2007, British defense firm Qineteq unveiled the jet-ski-sized Sentry, which was designed for intruder investigation.

It's likely that the Israeli navy will use Protector as part of the force it's building to guard its natural gas fields in the eastern Mediterranean. In the decades ahead, the offshore production platforms, due to start coming onstream in 2014, and other infrastructure will be a strategic target for Israel's adversaries.

Iran and its proxy, Hezbollah in Lebanon, are seen as particular threats, as is Syria and to a lesser extent Palestinian militants.

Hezbollah reportedly has hundreds of long-range missiles capable of hitting the offshore facilities south of Lebanon.