Conceptual Design of Future Undersea Unmanned Vehicle (UUV) System for Mine Disposal

Abstract

Abstract—A conceptual design is proposed for an effective mine countermeasure (MCM) system, which consists of three unmanned underwater vehicles (UUVs) and 10–20 small charged deliverable vehicles. New underwater optical communication systems are introduced to improve onboard mine reconnaissance and decision making with the key technologies focused on system and communication efficiency, capability of data processing, and cost-effectiveness of MCM systems. The proposed UUV MCM system is cost-effective due to adapting disposable mine neutralization instruments, upgrading data process units, and configuring optical communication systems between heterogeneous underwater and surface vehicle units in operations. At the same time, efficient and reliable underwater optical and electromagnetic wave communication systems are also introduced and analyzed for future system applications.