Navy orders UUVs able to mimic quiet enemy submarines

摘要

U.S. Navy anti-submarine warfare (ASW) experts needed target underwater drones that mimic the acoustic and non-acoustic signatures of advanced nuclear- and diesel-powered submarines. They found their solution at Lockheed Martin Sippican in Marion, Mass. Officials of the Naval Undersea Warfare Center (NUWC) in Newport, R.I., announced a $49.5 million contract to Lockheed Martin Sippican to build 39 unmanned underwater vehicles (UUVs) able to emulate the behavior and sensor signatures of enemy submarines to help Navy ASW experts practice their skills from surface warships, submarines, helicopters, and fixed-wing aircraft. Sippican UUVs that can disguise themselves as potentially hostile submarines, called MK 39 Mod 2 expendable mobile antisubmarine warfare (ASW) training targets (EMATT), are designed to help Navy submarine-, surface ship-, and aircraft-based ASW forces train to detect, hunt, and destroy quiet enemy submarines. Navy aircraft and surface warship crews will use the second-generation EMATT to train in open-ocean, unrestricted, and on-range ASW training missions.