Depth Control System for Fatline Towed Arrays

The Phase II effort will consist of parallel development of the HW/LW tow cable and the Dragonfly Depth Control System, identified during Phase I. The 1st year will develop the critical items needed to achieve the desired cable SG and demonstrate the variable density continuous extrusion process. For the Dragonfly system, the critical items are developing the wing and demonstrating its hydrodynamic performance, developing the wing fuselage test bed control system, and then installing and testing the components into the Dragonfly test bed module. The 2nd year will emphasize integrating the HW and VLW tow cables segments into a continuous-length strength member tow cable, performing PVT tests, and delivering a full-length pre-production HW/VLW tow cable to the Navy. For the Dragonfly system, the 2nd year will emphasize installing and testing the Dragonfly wet-end system in a prototype fuselage, testing the dry-end wing control system, and culminates with towing test of the prototype system. The 6-month Option Phase will emphasize final documentation of the HW/VLW tow cable qualification tests, including developing a Source Control Document, and Dragonfly systems integration tests with the TB-16 towed array system, culminating with delivery of the Dragonfly prototype system to the Navy for their evaluation.