Northrop Grumman has tested the performance of its mine hunting system to process synthetic aperture sonar in a U.S. Navy demonstration.
The AQS-24B mine hunting system processed sonar data at a speed of 18 knots during the field test at the Navy Central Command in Bahrai, the company said Monday.
“The AQS-24B represents a significant advancement of the U.S. Navy’s mine hunting capability, on both the MH-53E helicopters as well as the mine hunting unmanned surface vessels,” said Alan Lytle, vice president of undersea systems business unit at Northrop.
Northrop’s AQS-24B also performed a single sortie tow duration of 16.25 hours from a surface ship during a separate demonstration in Panama City, Florida.
The Navy uses the system to detect and identify mine threats.