HII Amphibious Warships Demo Coordinated Manned, Unmanned Operations

Hunting Ingalls Industries (HII)-built amphibious warships demonstrated the ability to launch, operate with and recover large-diameter unmanned underwater vehicles (LDUUV).

HII’s Advanced Technology Group performed the launch and recovery demonstration with a prototype platform called Pharos and HII’s LDUUV Proteus in the Pascagoula River.

The demonstration involved having the LDUUV approach and be captured by the Pharos cradle, while Pharos was being towed behind a small craft that simulated an amphibious ship at low speed. Pharos was put in a tow position, then using a remote control, it was ballasted down in the trailing position allowing the LDUUV to navigate into Pharos. Once the unmanned vehicle was captured, Pharos was de-ballasted back up into a recovery and transport position. The demonstration also included ballasting down to launch the LDUUV after the capture.

Pharos is outfitted with heavy duty wheels to allow its transport maneuverability within the well deck of an amphibious ship for stowage on the vehicle decks. Pharos can be rolled off the back of an amphibious ship while using the ship’s existing winch capabilities to extend and retract the platform from the well deck. The Pharos design is scalable and reconfigurable to fit various unmanned underwater or unmanned surface vehicles.

The Pharos design was conducted by HII, and three main partners supported the development. The University of New Orleans, in conjunction with the Navy, performed the initial model testing, and the prototype device was fabricated by Metal Shark in Louisiana.

HII will use results from the Pharos demonstration to further mature concepts and continue to develop innovative national security solutions.