BubbleSquid Remote Pressure Mine Triggering System for Naval Mine Sweeping Applications

A novel method for influence sweeping of pressure mines is proposed that will generate an in-situ pressure drop that is identical to the pressure drop associated with the passage of a large surface vessel. This novel method uses a towed-vehicle with submersed bubble generation and is based on the physical principle that the combination of water column density reduction and upwelling current created by a dense stream of bubbles provides a versatile mechanism for variable pressure signature generation. The resulting pressure signature, comparable to a passing ship hull, is dependant on the bubble stream with the persistence of the pressure signature being maintained over the mine even after the tow-boat and towed-vehicle has moved beyond the mine. The towed-vehicle's depth and orientation is established passively and pressurized air is supplied from the towed-vehicle resulting in a simply deployable and maintainable autonomous system. The hydrodynamic towed-vehicle employed has very low drag; therefore a low-powered towing vessel may be employed. Further, the non-metallic, passive design of the screen generating array allows magnetic and acoustic signature generation to also be part of the pressure signature created.