Scott Nicholas
General Dynamics‘ mission systems unit has tested a mine countermeasure unmanned undersea vehicle for the U.S. Navy during a round of contractor trials that occurred off the coast of Boston.
The Knifefish UUV trials aimed to evaluate if the system could detect, classify and locate potential buried, bottom and volume type mine-test targets at various depths, General Dynamics said Thursday.
Knifefish is designed to be deployed from littoral combat ships and other Navy vessels to help minimize personnel risks on operations in minefields.
Capt. Jonathan Rucker, program manager of unmanned maritime systems at the Navy, said platform will work to help warfighters track bottom, buried and volume mines in various environments.
“Working closely with the Navy, we look forward to Sea Acceptance Trials in 2018 and continued refinement of the Knifefish system,” said Carlo Zaffanella, vice president and general manager of maritime and strategic systems at General Dynamics Mission Systems.
