• Military Menu                       

• Introduction
• Systems
• Facilities
• Agencies
• Industry
• Operations
• Countries
• Hot Documents
• News
• Reports
• Policy
• Budget
• Congress
• Links

• WMD
• Intelligence
• Homeland Security
• Space

NSWC Panama City Demonstrates Unmanned Systems Technology

Navy News Service

Story Number: NNS110618-07
6/18/2011

By Alex Bernstein, Naval Surface Warfare Center Panama City Division Public Affairs

PANAMA CITY, Fla. (NNS) -- The Naval Surface Warfare Center Panama City Division (NSWC PCD) is hosting an Office of Naval Research (ONR) Mine Countermeasures (MCM) Science and Technology (S&T) Demonstration in Panama City, Fla., June 13–23, to display the latest in unmanned technology.

"This event is an opportunity for ONR to bring together sets of technologies that we've been working on for the past five years or so into one place to demonstrate and evaluate them," said Dr. Sam Taylor, NSWC PCD Automation Dynamics and Special Programs product line manager and branch head. "It allows NSWC PCD to show these technologies working in a relevant environment under conditions similar to how they will be deployed once fielded."

Taylor said many of the demonstrated technologies will be incorporated into the Littoral Combat Ship (LCS) program.

Robert Gibson, NSWC PCD demonstration manager for the event, said the littoral ships have multiple mission capabilities, depending on which mission package is loaded onto the ship, making them a unique capability to the Navy.

"If someone mines a port, like just happened in Libya, where Libya was putting mines out to keep the re-supply ships from coming in, we can send out these Unmanned Vehicles (UVs) to survey the area for mines," Gibson said. "This allows the Navy commander to know the location and types of mine shapes that are in the area. In the future, UVs will be sent in to neutralize the mines while the ship is sitting 20 to 30 miles over the horizon. This will allow us to deploy UVs and never have to put a person in harm's way. That's where we're headed and we're very close to accomplishing that. The technology to accomplish this goal is what we are demonstrating here today."

Organic Mine Countermeasures Future Naval Capability Demonstration Manager Bill Schopfel said aside from demonstrating technological maturity and associated cost efficiencies with various UV systems, the the Navy was showing how it could execute these MCM missions more expeditiously and safely.

"I believe the MCM Science and Technology Demonstration being held in Panama City will lead to developing systems that save the lives of our Sailors and Marines," said Schopfel. "These systems will eventually remove them from the mine fields. To me, that is the bottom line for everything we do."