Autonomous Underwater Vehicles (AUV's) A Look at Coast Guard Needs to Close Performance Gaps and Enhance Current Mission Performance

摘要

The Coast Guard has declared its intentions to exploit emerging technologies as it moves toward its vision of the Coast Guard in the year 2020 (Coast Guard 2020). Attaining this vision requires appropriate integration of technology as part of the solution that will close gaps in the mission performance. For this to happen, the Coast Guard must make concerted and deliberate efforts to exploit technology, moving effectively from ideation through development, acquisition, implementation and life cycle support. The role of the Research and Development (R&D) Center in exploiting technology is to anticipate future needs, to create ideas, and insert new technologies. Autonomous Underwater Vehicles (AUV's) as a platform for various sensors is one such technology with the potential to close the gaps in Coast Guard performance as well as enhancing current mission capabilities. This paper addresses the needs of the Coast Guard for specific mission areas.