Ocean Aero to Provide DHS S&T Autonomous Marine Vehicles for Research and Testing
Ocean Aero says it has received a contract to provide the Department of Homeland Security Science and Technology Directorate a fleet of intelligent autonomous marine vehicles for a research, evaluation and testing program. The company says it will provide a variety of its environmentally-powered autonomous underwater and service vehicles (AUSVs), including Navigator and Discovery models, for the program. The AUSVs will be used in various ocean environments as a platform for the integration, testing, and evaluation of various sensors. Ocean Aero will work with S&T, the Coast Guard, Customs and Border Protection, the Univ. of Southern Mississippi, the Naval Research Laboratory, and
Cherokee Nation Strategic Programs, LLC. Cherokee Nation is the prime contractor for the effort under an approximately $4 million contract with DHS S&T. Ocean Aero’s AUSVs are all four meters long and feature a combination of folding wingsail and solar panels for long-distance travel. The vessels include rechargeable lithium-ion batteries to power C3 and sensor payload functions. The wingsail retracts and allows the vehicles to submerge and avoid harsh surface conditions, evade detection, and perform subsurface data collection. The Navigator can navigate underwater and submerge to 200 meters in depth. The Discovery isn’t equipped with an underwater navigation system and is designed to collect vertical and horizontal profile data while submerging to a depth of 100 meters.
Coast Guard Makes Two Awards for USV Assessments for Maritime Surveillance
The Coast Guard has awarded two contracts to companies to evaluate small unmanned surface vehicles (USVs) this summer over 30 days to improve maritime domain awareness in the Central Pacific Ocean. California-based Saildrone received $1.1 million from the Coast Guard Research and Development Center and Virginia-based Spatial Integrated Systems received a $660,000 award. The companies will provide their low-cost autonomous USVs on a contractor-owned and operated basis. The Coast Guard will gather data on range of detection, appropriate sensor packages, and communications flow between the vessels and command center to determine if small USVs can improve awareness in remote Pacific regions with an emphasis on detecting suspected illegal, unreported and unregulated fishing activity to support enforcement actions. A final report on the evaluations is expected by spring 2021.
Citadel Defense Counter-Drone System Selected by Military Customer
Citadel Defense says its Titan counter-drone system has been selected by a military service customer for ground and airspace perimeter security deployments overseas. The company did not disclose the number of systems delivered or contract details. The company says the contract win is “another example of Titan radio frequency systems being utilized as a preferred protection technology against evolving air, ground and sea drone concerns.” The company also says its technology gives military forces improved freedom of maneuver within the electromagnetic spectrum by detecting and defeating threats without significant collateral impact to communications or other supporting technologies.
Coast Guard Plans R21 Award to GD
The Coast Guard says it plans to award a sole-source five-year indefinite delivery, indefinite quantity contract to General Dynamics [GD] for continued sustainment of the Rescue 21 Coastal (R21) system, which provides simultaneous VHF/UHF communications, direction finding, and digital selective calling functionality for the service to communicate with maritime users in the continental U.S. Hawaii, Guam and Puerto Rico. Given a delay in recompeting this work and technology advancements in the information technology space, the Coast Guard says it is conducting a study that will present alternative technical solutions for the R21 Coastal system requirements and ensure the best decisions are made for the system going forward.