Hidden Mines Can Now Be Hunted With Knifefish Submersible Drones

The General Dynamics Mission Systems (GDMS) team, known for the development of knifefish autonomous submersible, recently made the news of the successful completion of the mine-hunting evaluation of its drone public. The project was carried out in association with the U.S. Navy and was carried on the Boston coast. The evaluation made use of Navy mine test targets and represented a significant milestone in the progress of Knifefish program. The prime purpose of this test was to show the capabilities of Knifefish as it is in action. These can also gather information and data that can help in the refinement of future versions of this drone.

The Knifefish has been developed as a heavyweight-class mine countermeasure (MCM) unmanned undersea vehicle (UUV) that is intended for deployments from the Navy’s surface vessels. The UUV has been designed for detection and classification of a large range of most potent mines located at different depths inside the ocean, as every kind of mine presents unknown dangers for naval ships. The Knifesih is also capable of identifying the mines almost buried under the seafloor. Carlo Zaffanella, the General Manager and Vice President of Strategic System and Maritime for GDMS, adds, “The information and situational awareness Knifefish will deliver to sailors is a quantum leap in clarity and accuracy over other mine-hunting systems currently used by the Navy.”

GDMS is the primary contractor for the Knifefish on behalf of U.S. Navy, it created UUV by using an open design and architecture concept that is very modular and can be modified efficiently and rapidly to sustain all needs and requirements of distinct naval missions. The program manager for the Navy’s Unmanned Maritime Systems Program Office, Captain Jon Rucker, says, “The Navy continues to work with its industry partner, General Dynamics Mission Systems, to develop, test, and deliver the needed Knifefish capability to the fleet. The system performed well against a variety of surrogate targets and we are confident we will refine its performance to support the planned schedule in 2017.”