Compact Aerial Deployable Acoustic and Magnetic-Anomaly Sensing

To address the Navy’s need for acoustic sensing and magnetic-anomaly detection (MAD) capabilities deployable from VTUAVs such as the MQ-8C Fire Scout for anti-submarine warfare (ASW), Physical Optics Corporation (POC) developed the Compact Aerial Deployable Acoustic and Magnetic-Anomaly Sensing System (CADAMASS) design in Phase I. It has a dipping-sonar pod with a deployable/retrievable acoustic source for bi-static sensing, sonobuoy-launching pods each with a 5 sonobuoy capacity, and a MAD pod with a deployable/retrievable MAD-equipped towed body. These pods can be installed onto and removed from the MQ-8C in any configuration to provide different sensing capability while deployable from a littoral combat ship (LCS). CADAMASS is compliant with the MQ-8C power and communication interface, controllable by remote operators, and transmits the collected data to the LCS for data fusion used in ASW and minehunting. The feasibility of CADAMASS was validated through CAD simulations and analysis. A sonobuoy launcher prototype was fabricated and successfully demonstrated to quickly launch an A-size sonobuoy without the use of pyrotechnics. CADAMASS is based on commercially available components, thus it is low cost. In Phase II, POC will finalize the CADAMASS design, fabricate its prototype, and evaluate its capabilities in simulated environments specified by the Navy.