{"id":84464,"date":"2019-05-08T00:30:30","date_gmt":"2019-05-08T00:30:30","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/navytimes\/uncategorized\/2019\/05\/08\/when-will-the-us-navy-be-able-to-autonomously-seek-and-destroy-mines\/"},"modified":"2026-08-08T00:20:01","modified_gmt":"2026-08-08T00:20:01","slug":"when-will-the-us-navy-be-able-to-autonomously-seek-and-destroy-mines","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/navytimes\/news\/your-navy\/2019\/05\/08\/when-will-the-us-navy-be-able-to-autonomously-seek-and-destroy-mines\/","title":{"rendered":"When will the US Navy be able to autonomously seek and destroy mines?"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

WASHINGTON \u2014 The U.S. Navy is racing to field unmanned systems, and while much work remains for distributed, unmanned sensors and missile shooters, one area of unmanned warfare is seeing success: hunting and destroying mines.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Raytheon and Textron are working on a system that, when it\u2019s fielded, will combine a sonar system and mine-killing weapons in one unmanned, remotely controlled system \u2014 a noteworthy leap forward for the Navy\u2019s counter-mine efforts and the culmination of its yearslong push to \u201cget the man out of the minefield.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Ultimately this is the Navy\u2019s long-delayed, much anticipated mine countermeasures mission package destined for the littoral combat ship.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Click here for more stories, videos and interviews from Sea-Air-Space!<\/b><\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Raytheon\u2019s mine-hunting sonar, the AQS-20, is in the final stages of testing, and the service is close to declaring initial operational capability, which should be this summer, said Randy Brandenburg, a Raytheon business development executive with its Seapower Capability Systems division. The AQS-20, which is remotely monitored and controlled from a manned platform, deploys from an autonomous surface vessel developed by Textron called the Common Unmanned Surface Vehicle.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWe worked with the Navy and with Textron to develop a unique deploy-and-recovery system that allows the [AQS]-20 to be put into and recovered, and allows it to become part of this mission package, and we\u2019ve been contracted to go out and build a few more of those,\u201d Brandenburg said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Once mines are detected, they will need to be destroyed. And for that the mission package, there\u2019s a platform called the Barracuda Expendable Mine Neutralizer, which, once authorized by the operator, autonomously detects and destroys mines initially uncovered by the AQS-20.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cAll three of these pieces are maturing right around the same time,\u201d Brandenburg said. \u201cWe\u2019re working hard to put this together and we\u2019ll be demonstrating some of this \u2026 this summer.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Raytheon has early versions of the Barracuda to demonstrate, he said, but initial design review is slated for this summer, followed by critical design review early next year. The mission module for LCS should be on track to reach IOC this summer.<\/p>\n\n\n\t