Thales to automate launch and recovery system for Royal Australian Navy unmanned underwater vehicle.

Thales Australia and Flinders University have signed a Memorandum of Understanding to conduct a study into the development of an automation system for the launch and recovery process of the General Dynamics Mission Systems Bluefin 9 Autonomous Underwater Vehicles (AUVs), procured by the Royal Australian Navy under its Deployable Mine Counter Measures project.
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Thales USV (Picture source: Thales)

Current launch and recovery processes for AUVs require human involvement in the deployment of the AUV from an Unmanned Surface Vehicle (USV); through either direct placement and retrieval from the water or activation from the platform. This collaboration will determine how best to increase the safety for navy personnel by removing ’the person from the mission’ through an end-to-end automation process.

In this study, Thales Australia will act as the design authority, working with key stakeholders to ensure that all capability and safety requirements are being met to allow Royal Australian Navy personnel to execute their mission safely.

Flinders University, world leaders in marine environments and autonomy, and a key academic partner in the recently announced $15 million TAS-CRC project, will provide subject matter expertise to investigate potential concepts for the Automatic Launch and Recovery System from a USV.

General Dynamics Mission BLuefin 9 (Picture source: General Dynamics Mission)

About the BLuefin 9:

The General Dynamics Mission Systems Bluefin™-9 autonomous unmanned underwater vehicle provides unmatched high-resolution data, leading navigation, data processing and mission turnaround time in a two-man portable UUV. Featuring a full carbon fiber body, a carefully selected and smartly integrated suite of sensors, latest generation communications and navigational components, and new onboard processing capabilities, the Bluefin-9 is the professional’s tool to know what's below.

Standard payloads:

Side Scan Sonar With Full Swath Bathymetry
HD Machine Vision Camera
Sound Velocity Sensor + Temperature + Pressure
Turbidity
Fluorometry