Peter Graham
General Dynamics’ mission systems business has launched a new unmanned underwater vehicle to help defense, academic and commercial users gather subsurface data.
Bluefin-9 is designed to be deployed from a pier or a rigid-hulled inflatable boat and features a removable module built to store sonar data, images and video that users can access shortly after they recover the vehicle, General Dynamics said Tuesday.
The company added its re-engineered portable UUV can operate at a speed of three knots for up to eight hours, dive to 200 meters and reach a speeds of six knots.
The vehicle is intended to support underwater environmental surveys, water quality assessment, search-and-recovery, security, intelligence, surveillance, reconnaissance and tactical missions.
General Dynamics unveiled Bluefin-9 at the Oceans 2018 event held Tuesday in Charleston, S.C.
