Northrop Grumman’s AQS-24 mine hunting sonar has recently completed initial in-water testing of a Deploy and Retrieval (D&R) payload.
Operated from the Mine Countermeasures Unmanned Surface Vessel (MCM USV), the AQS-24 D&R demonstrated the unmanned operations needed to perform a mine hunting mission off the MCM Mission Package aboard the littoral combat ship (LCS).
“ Achieving this important milestone demonstrated reliable unmanned mine hunting operations, while using operationally representative hardware from the LCS MCM Mission Module, ” said Alan Lytle , vice president, undersea systems, Northrop Grumman. “This allows the program to begin preparation for further at-sea testing of the system for extended duration missions in rigorous conditions.”
The MCM USV tests are ahead of planned user-operated evaluation system testing of the AQS-24 on LCSs.
The company has multiple versions of the AQS-24 to provide mine hunting capabilities for navies. The AQS-24B is a deployed system which uses side-scan sonar for real-time detection, localization and classification of bottom and moored mines in addition to a laser line scanner for precise optical identification.
Integration of the AQS-24 sonar with USVs allows for the real-time transmission of all AQS-24 data to a remote sonar operator, who can then start real-time mission analysis (RTMA) of all recorded mission data.
RTMA reduces MCM detect to engage timelines, as well as the real-time re-acquisition and identification of bottom mines following traditional mine hunting sorties.