Maritime Intelligence, Surveillance, Reconnaissance (ISR) and Space Exploitation

In this topic we explore minimum drag towing cable configurations for underwater mine countermeasure equipment. The drag of the cable itself can be a significant portion of the overall system drag, and the goal is to determine, for a given mission (towdepth and speed), the best combination of cable length and sectional shape, through a constrained (volume) optimization process. This will allow a smaller/faster/cheaper system solution. We will demonstrate a flexible, animated real-time finite segmenthydrodynamic model as a development tool, and partially validate it in Phase 1 with full scale testing of simple bodies towed from an instrumented planing craft at varying depth, speed, and cable length. This should answer the question: Is a `streamlined'cable better than a simple, long and smooth cylindrical one? If the shaped cable looks worthwhile, we will pursue a streamlined composite towing cable with an optimized profile and folding, trailing `fins' to prevent kiting.Cable drag is a majorconsideration in the fishing industry, the oil industry and other commercial interests which tow object through the water. Low drag cables would apply to any of these efforts.