The U.S. Navy recently awarded five delivery orders to Bluefin Robotics
for vehicles that will increase the Navy's capability to remotely search
and investigate ship hulls, harbor sea floors, and other underwater
infrastructure for limpet mines, Improvised Explosive Devices (IEDs)
and other objects of interest. |
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The delivery
orders, valued at $5 million, are to be used in the Explosive Ordnance
Disposal Hull Unmanned Underwater Vehicle Localization System (EOD HULS)
Program of Record.
The EOD HULS System (known as MK19) consists of two vehicles and associated
support equipment. Bluefin’s third-generation Hovering Autonomous
Underwater Vehicle (HAUV-3), used in the MK19 system, was initially
developed under Office of Naval Research and transitioned to the EOD
Program Office.
Bluefin’s work will include engineering support, operator training,
on-board repair parts, depot spares, retrofit, addition of new capabilities,
and the manufacturing of systems 6 and 7.
New capabilities include the integration of a GPS receiver and magnetic
compass for geo-referenced navigation during searches; integration with
the Common Operator Interface Navy EOD (COIN); addition of video enhancement;
an update of SeeByte’s Automatic Target Recognition software to
the ARIS imaging sonar and other new features.
After delivery of Systems 6 and 7 scheduled in spring 2016, the Navy
will own 14 vehicles and a spare. |
EOD HULS
MK19 System. Picture: Bluefin Robotics