THE SUBMARAN™ is the first wind- and solar-powered hybrid, autonomous, unmanned surface and subsurface vessel designed for extended ocean observation and data collection.

BY NEIL TRENAMAN Ocean Aero Inc.

Persistent Hybrid-Powered Unmanned Surface and Subsurface Vessels

The Next Generation in

R. MURRAY GERO Lockheed Martin Corporation

10 ON&T | MARCH 2018

EDITORIAL FEATURE

OCEANNEWS.COM 11

Built for speed, efficiency, and manoeuvrability, it is powered by a unique composite wing sail and state-of-the-art solar panels

that recharge batteries quickly. The combination of wind and solar power enables the Submaran™ to travel further and faster—with the navigational agility for lengthy station keeping and prolonged monitoring.

The Submaran™ features a hull length of 4.2 m (13.8 ft), a payload capacity of 23 kg (50 lbs), a top speed of 5.5 kts, and the ability to transition from surface sailing to fully submerged in 2 to 3 minutes. It is ideally suited for autonomous missions that require speed, stealth, long endurance, and persistence under demanding ocean conditions.

In August 2016, Ocean Aero and its Submaran™ Autonomous Unmanned Surface and Subsurface Vessel (AUSSV) teamed with Lockheed Martin’s (NYSE: LMT) “Mar l in MK2” Autonomous Underwater Vehicle (AUV) and a Lockheed Martin “Vector Hawk” Unmanned Aerial

Vehicle (UAV) to showcase the combined capabil it ies of using autonomous underwater, autonomous surface, and autonomous aerial vehicles for cross-domain communications and command and control via underwater acoustic and aerial radio links.

These efforts were a part of the U.S. Navy’s second Advanced Naval Technology Exercise (ANTX), which featured more than 30 participants operating under the theme of “Cross Domain Communications and Command and Control.” Ocean Aero and Lockheed Martin demonstrated the versatility and adaptability that unmanned systems bring to complex missions.

At ANTX 2016, Ocean Aero and Lockheed Martin demonstrated the versatility and adaptability that unmanned systems bring to complex missions. Lockheed Martin successfully launched Vector Hawk, a small UAV, on command from the Marlin MK2 AUV during a cross-domain command and control event hosted by the U.S. Navy.

In addition to Marlin and Vector Hawk, the Submaran™, a hybrid autonomous underwater and surface vehicle (AUSV), provided surface reconnaissance and surveillance. The Submaran™ relayed instructions to the Marlin from a ground control station via underwater acoustic communications. Following these instructions, the Marlin launched the Vector Hawk using a specially designed canister from the surface of Narragansett Bay.

Fo l lowing launch , Vector Hawk successfully assumed a mission flight track. All three autonomous vehicles communicated operational status to the ground control station to maintain situational awareness and provide a means to command and control all assets.

Ocean Aero followed its initial successful collaboration at ANTX 2016 by participating with the U.S. Navy’s Space

and Naval Warfare Systems Center Pacific (SPAWAR SSC PAC) at ANTX 17 held at Camp Pendleton, California. The goal of the ANTX 2017 exercise was to demonstrate how cooperative AUSV/UAV operations can be coordinated to provide bathymetric survey data for amphibious landings where the Submaran™ filled the AUSV role and the Vapor 55 filled the UAV role.

The Submaran™ and Vapor 55 partici-pated in three (Shield, Spear, Dagger) primary missions.

The missions were to simulate real-world operations where an over-the-horizon force preparing for an amphibious landing gathered intelligence and threat identification information via stealthy deployment of autonomous, unmanned technologies.

The Submaran™, equipped with an acoustic multi-beam sonar, was deployed from a remote location to collect high-definition imagery of the seabed in a designated area of interest in the littoral zone offshore of a potential amphibious landing site. The multi-beam data provided near-real time bathymetric images detailing possible hazards such as mine-like objects and subsurface s t ructu res des igned to thwar t amphibious landing craft gaining access to the beach.

The high-resolution data were then transmitted to the Vapor 55, which was hovering overhead after having flown autonomously from a simulated over-horizon asset.

Upon completion of the data transfer from the Submaran™, the Vapor 55 UAV returned to its point of departure and the dataset recovered and processed to provide acoustic image maps of the seafloor and identify hazards and threats.

These exercises illustrate the cross-domain benefits that autonomous underwater, sur face , and aer ia l technologies bring to operational surve i l lance and near rea l - t ime environmental updates to support field command logistics.

In the future, it is clear that the Submaran™ will be “missionized,” likely using a variety of Lockheed Martin payloads and systems integration expertise, to become the cross-domain lynchpin of a “system of systems” performing a diverse assortment of potential missions, including those requiring a covert platform. These potential missions include low-cost, persistent ISR; cross domain communications gateway; crit ical infrastructure monitoring; special operations support; payload delivery; ocean observation; and law enforcement/drug interdiction.

Multi-Domain Collaborative Operations for Assured Access to Maritime Battlespace Submaran™ supporting future mission of Persistent ISR and Cross Domain communications gateway.

Primary Objective – Multi-Domain C2 The Ocean Aero Submaran™ demonstrates communications gateway capability between subsurface and air assets.

OCEANNEWS.COM12 13ON&T | MARCH 2018

EDITORIAL FEATURE