US defense contractor Northrop Grumman announced that it has completed completed initial in-water testing of the AQS-24 mine hunting sonar that will be part of the MCM mission package aboard the US Navy littoral combat ships (LCS).
Integrated with the mine countermeasures unmanned surface vessel (MCM USV), the AQS-24 D&R demonstrated the unmanned operations needed to perform a mine hunting mission.
“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 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 commence real-time mission analysis (RTMA) of all recorded mission data. RTMA reduces MCM detect to engage timelines, as well as the real-time reacquisition and identification of bottom mines following traditional mine hunting sorties.
