Northrop to Integrate Sonar System onto L3Harris Unmanned Undersea Vehicle

Northrop Grumman will integrate its µSAS sonar system onto L3Harris Technologies’ Iver4 Unmanned Undersea Vehicle (UUV) for a 12-month test period for the Defense Innovation Unit’s (DIU) Next Generation Small-Class UUV program.

The DIU is a United States Department of Defense (DoD) organization founded to help the US military make faster use of emerging commercial technologies.

The µSAS (pronounced “micro-sas”) is a Low-SWaP (size, weight and power), high-performance interferometric synthetic aperture sonar that enables longer sorties and higher area coverage rates for UUV missions. Integrated onto a 9-inch diameter, 99-inch long, 200-pound UUV, the installation will occur at L3Harris’ Fall River, Massachusetts facility and the system will be tested in San Diego, California by the US Navy.

The integration of synthetic aperture sonar on a small diameter UUV is a significant step forward in small class vehicle capability, the company said in a statement Monday.

“The Northrop Grumman µSAS advanced imaging sonar is a minehunting force multiplier designed specifically for UUVs,” said Alan Lytle, vice president, undersea systems, Northrop Grumman. “This integration will help to deliver a significant increase in the platform’s ability to detect objects on the seafloor and in the water column.”