Sonobuoy Launched Aerial Vehicle for Anti-Submarine Warfare System

There is a global trend in submarine proliferation. This poses a threat to U.S. maritime strategy and naval operations. To address this Navy need, Intellisense Systems, Inc. (Intellisense) proposes to develop a new low-cost Tier 1 Sonobuoy Launched Aerial Vehicle for Anti-Submarine Warfare (SLAVA) system. This innovative unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) integrates a magnetic anomaly detector (MAD) and an ultralow frequency (ULF) sonobuoy. The UAV is designed to fit within a standard A-size sonobuoy launch container (SLC). After it is launched from the P-8A’s sonobuoy launcher system, the UAV wings are unfolded to produce lift and function as the flight control surfaces. It follows a set of pre-programmed waypoints and flight paths to collect MAD data in the area of uncertainty. The onboard processor processes the data in real-time to identify anomaly components measured by the MAD and with the compensation of data disturbance by the UAV maneuvers. If the analyzed data detects a strong anomaly that indicates a target presence, the UAV will transition to autonomous target tracking to collect additional MAD data for target classification. If the target identification confidence is high, the ULF sonobuoy can be deployed to assist in target tracking. The acoustic data is uploaded to the UAV to be analyzed by the processor. Utilizing a swarm of such UAVs and exchanging data among themselves will enable rapid target cued search, detection, localization, tracking, and classification. In Phase I, Intellisense will design the SLAVA to weigh no more than 39 lb and can be launched from A-size SLC. It will have 9 years shelf life, has standard sonobuoy launch envelope, threshold cruise speed and flight time of 70 kts and 70 min, respectively, and operation altitude of 500 ft to 2000 ft. Its radio range exceeds 20 nm line of sight and has a payload volume of greater than 94.4 in.ł. It can operate in -20°C to 50°C and in light rain with 1 nm visibility. Its flight path can be preprogrammed or chosen autonomously based on the target tracking as cued by the MAD. A new sonobuoy will be designed to have >60 min operating time, >200 ft operating depth, and minimum frequency coverage range of 0.01 Hz to 2.5 kHz. Its radio transceiver range is > 20 nm. SLAVA uses a newly available commercial MAD that has dynamic range of ±100 µT on each axis, no dead zones, and an accuracy of 1 nT over the temperature range of -0°C to 50°C and has in-air noise level of <20 pT/rtHz in 0.01 to 100 Hz with a raw heading error of 1 nT. In Phase II, Intellisense will construct the SLAVA prototype and demonstrate its feasibility in a relevant and operation environment. Ruggedized prototypes will be fabricated for a full-system demonstration of the combined MAD and acoustic capabilities on multiple air-launched prototypes from a surrogate platform to demonstrate they can unfold, transition into stable flight, and communicate in swarm configuration to classify and localize targets.