Unmanned Underwater Riverine Craft (UURC)

There is an operational need to carry out clandestine surveillance tasks in Riverine and shallow water environments. Successful execution of these tasks will require an Unmanned Underwater Riverine Craft (UURC) with specialized capabilities. This response to SBIR072-040 will initiate development of a UURC capable of: Navigating submerged in rivers, inlets, and harbors as well as in coastal and shallow water areas Providing persistence in these areas and of providing surface and underwater surveillance with onboard and deployable sensors under low visibility conditions Autonomous operation and evasion procedures underwater including hostile bottom conditions Communicating surveillance and positional data to remote operators Deployment by air-drop, surface launch and subsurface launch Propelled motion and bottom locomotion Energy harvesting and entering “sleep” and “hibernation” modes for sustained endurance Phase I will identify various UURC enabling and/or critical technologies that support persistent underwater surveillance/reconnaissance missions in riverine and other shallow water operational environments. Define technical concepts and provide analysis to support performance projections and current maturity. Assess their feasibility and investigate how they contribute to the overall operational capability and mission effectiveness of the UURC.