AUTONOMOUS UNDERWATER VEHICLE ARRAY DEPLOYMENT SYSTEM

THE AUTONOMOUS UNDERWATER VEHICLE (AUV) HAS BECOME A REALITY OVER THE LAST TEN YEARS. THEY HAVE BEEN DESIGNED TO FUNCTION WELL IN HOSTILE ENVIRONMENTS BY THE OIL INDUSTRY FOR SUCH TASKS AS OIL RIG INSPECTION. WITH THE INEVITABILITY OF THE QUIET RUSSIAN SUBMARINE, THE NAVY WILL SOON HAVE TO APPLY NEW LEARNED AUV TECHNIQUES FOR SURVEILLANCE. IT SEEMS INEVITABLE THAT THE NAVY WILL WANT TO USE TETHERED TORPEDO VEHICLES TO IMPROVE SURVEILLANCE AND TRIANGULATION TECHNIQUES. WHEN THIS HAPPENS, THEY WILL HAVE TO FIND A WAY TO DEPLOY AND RETRIEVE A TOWED ARRAY FROM A TORPEDO. WE HAVE RECENTLY CONCEIVED NEW CAPSTAN TECHNIQUES WHICH COULD SOLVE THE UNIQUE PROBLEMS OF TORPEDO ARRAY DEPLOYMENT. OUR MECHANISM COULD BE DESIGNED VERY SMALL IN DIAMETER, LIGHT IN WEIGHT, QUIET RUNNING AND HAS LOW INERTIAL WITH HIGH EFFICIENCY. THE LONG TERM BENEFITS OF SUCH A SYSTEM ARE MANY, BUT THE LONG TERM PLANNING MUST BEGIN TODAY TO FULFILL THE NEEDS OF THE YEAR 2000. IT IS OUR INTENT TO VERIFY THE FEASIBILITY OF A LINEAR CAPSTAN DEVICE WITH AN INTERNAL DRUM STOWAGE. THE MAJOR DESIGN CRITERIA FOR PHASE I WILL BE UNDERSTANDING THE LIMITATIONS OF INTERNALLY WRAPPING AN ARRAY IN A DRUM. THE MEASURE OF THIS SUCCESS WILL BE RELIABILITY.