The company will brief Australian Defence officials on the
US Navy Knifefish program and consider ways to offer it to the RAN (should US
export clearance be made available at some point in the future) within the
framework of Sea 1778 Phase 1, the RANs Deployable MCM – Organic Mine
Countermeasures project.
Knifefish, named after a family of sleek fish, is a US Navy
development program to deliver an organic underwater mine hunting capability to
the Littoral Combat Ships (LCS) project. Although it is designed for use aboard
the relatively large LCS,
General Dynamics says Knifefish can be integrated with some
smaller vessels as long as there is adequate deck space for the containerised
system and basic onboard infrastructure such as cranes to assist launch and
recovery.
Defence does not have a stated requirement for a heavyweight
minehunting UUV, but the company sees some synergies between Knifefish and some
of the Sea 1778 project requirements and will canvas these during their
forthcoming visit to Canberra.
Knifefish program The Knifefish UUV is designed to detect, identify and
ultimately avoid mine threats. It is an offboard sensor that is launched from
the LCS and executes a pre-programmed Search mission before being recovered
aboard the host vessel for analysis of the gathered data. Because the LCS does
not have to enter the minefield, the open-architecture Knifefish system saves
and protects valuable resources including ships and personnel. However it does
not have the capability to destroy mines and, if required, these must be dealt
with by other means.
The Knifefish system aboard each LCS will comprise two UUVs,
a containerised data processing centre and a further module for the storage and
charging of the vehicles batteries.
The Knifefish UUV itself is a 21-inch diameter, 19 foot-long
electric torpedo which weighs 2,800 lbs and has a specified endurance of over
16 hours, depending upon speed which can vary between two and six knots.
General Dynamics Advanced Information Systems provides the control and power
distribution systems within the UUV and the mission computer and control
systems and acts as the systems integrator. Bluefin Robotics manufactures the
UUV and its control systems.
The primary sensor is a Low-Frequency Broadband (LFBB) sonar
originally developed by the US Navy ReSearch Laboratory and manufactured by
Ultra Electronic Ocean Systems. It is capable of detecting volume, proud and
even buried mines in high-clutter underwater environments.
According to the US Navy, the LFBB sonar has demonstrated
excellent performance in the high clutter environment typical of littoral
minefield locations and has also demonstrated a low false alarm rate – often
the bane of mine hunting operations.
Data is stored in a Removable Data Storage Module (RDSM)
which is recovered from the UUV after it is hoisted back aboard the host vessel
and its information downloaded for analysis in the modular processing centre.
While this is happening, the UUV can be rapidly turned around by installing a
‘clean’ RDSM and newly-recharged batteries.
The system can be reprogrammed after launch but how this is
achieved is classified. Launch and recovery of the UUV can be undertaken
without stopping the host vessel – at a range of speeds somewhat below the top
speed of an LCS.
The concept was evolved from a US Naval ReSearch Laboratory
science and technology program which developed the capability and proved the
concept. Following on from this, the Naval Sea Systems Command Program
Executive Office Littoral Combat Ships (PEO LCS) PMS 406 awarded a
development contract to General Dynamics Advanced Information Systems in
September 2011.
“We have a US Navy contract to conduct the development of
what is essentially an Engineering Development Model (EDM), It’s not
specifically called that, but it’s for one system which includes two Knifefish
vehicles, the launch and recovery equipment and mission van equipment which
goes with it aboard the LCS and other ships of opportunity, the post-mission
processing system and spares et-cetera,” explained Senior Program Manager Tom Mason to ADM.
“In addition to the EDM we have been asked to deliver one
additional UUV to ensure sufficient availability for testing and the contract
has the option for Low Rate Initial Production of between two and five
systems.”
Mason said the Knifefish system had recently completed
System Requirements and Preliminary Design reviews one month ahead of the
agreed schedule with the US Navy and in January similarly completed the
Critical Design Review which scrutinised the detailed design.
“Right now we are getting ready to start fabrication, we’ve
just completed the CDR and we’re getting ready to build those vehicles and get
them in the water,” he said. “Our goal is to get a production contract for the
Knifefish system.”
The current schedule calls for the first system to undergo
factory acceptance testing in the second quarter of 2014 with the test program
to begin sometime in early 2015. Although the affects of US budgetary problems
on the project is not yet understood, the Knifefish system is currently due to
enter service with the US Navy in 2017.
Project Sea 1778 Phase
1 overview Sea 1778 Ph1 will provide deployed maritime units with the
capability to detect, classify, avoid, and where necessary, neutralise the mine
threat. As such, is has a wider term of reference that the Knifefish UUV in
isolation and can be viewed as a requirement for a ‘system of systems.’
According to the 2012 Defence Capability Plan it will be,
“The initial means by which task groups implement self-protective Mine
Countermeasures along intended routes, through choke points and within
objective arenas. This capability will be complemented by the current dedicated
MCM force, which will consolidate MCM effort within the area of operations.”
A littoral mine countermeasures capability will assume even
greater importance for Navy later in the decade, with the service entry of the
two LHDs. An organic mine detection capability during amphibious operations is
an obvious application for systems such as Knifefish.
First Pass Approval was announced by Defence Minister
Stephen Smith and then Minister for Defence Materiel Jason Clare in June 2012,
at which time it was announced that the project would be capped at $100
million. Announced at the same time, was First Pass Approval for Joint Project
1770 Phase 1 (Rapid Environmental Assessment).
“Together, these projects will provide the ADF with a
variety of deployable systems that will increase the safety and effectiveness
of deployed maritime operations through enhancing the collection, processing,
storage and dissemination of maritime environmental data,” said the Ministers.
One of the components of the system federation delivered
under the project will reportedly be an expendable mine neutralisation system,
something that Knifefish in its current form cannot do.
The DCP flags a year of decision for Sea 1778 Ph1, future
budget constraints notwithstanding, between late 2014 and the first half of
2016, with Initial Operating Capability to follow around 12 months later.
Just which RAN surface vessels are intended to incorporate
the projects capabilities is not yet abundantly clear, but the future Offshore
Combatant Vessel (OCV) to be acquired under Sea 1180 would be a good bet.
One of the concepts under consideration is for a common hull
design with ‘drop in’ mission modules and this would be the obvious candidate
if adequate deck space is provided for in the basic design. Other applications
include the two LHDs themselves, which would provide them with a degree of
autonomy if no other threats exist.
Synergies General Dynamics’ Senior Management Business Development and Sea 1778 Capture
Manager Christopher Taggart is at pains to point out that there is no
connection between the two projects.
“It is up to the US Navy to consider whether they would
consider export of the technology to the RAN,” he explained. “However since
we’ve been very much involved in the development of a UUV-based mine
countermeasures system, it made perfect sense for us to read about and get
involved in the Sea 1778 project.”
It is understood that Navy is looking at a smaller UUV than
Knifefish, with a diameter of around nine or 12.75 inches.
“What we’d like to discuss with DMO is the applicability of
larger, higher endurance UUVs to the mine warfare problem,” Taggart said. “As
you might guess, a smaller diameter UUV can carry less energy on board and
therefore its mission length is shorter and it can do less in the mine warfare
domain.”
One of the options being proposed for Australia is to
provide a different sonar system in the 21-inch diameter Knifefish vehicle. Taggart
says he is interested in demonstrating the integrated, open architecture of the
system, but admits that he is not privy to the specific mine warfare
requirements of the project.
In the proposal, the unspecified sonar system would be
optimised for the long range detection of proud and volume mines but less
effective than the current Knifefish sonar at detecting mines buried in the sea
bed.
