AUVSI: ECA Group unveils latest AUV A18-M for underwater mine warfare
France’s ECA Group has unveiled its new generation of mid-size AUV A18-M for underwater mine warfare.
Published on AUVSI, March 2018.
Built for efficient mine detection and classification in all water depths up to 300m, AUV A18-M is specifically designed to operate in the close vicinity of the smartest mines without triggering them
Regarding AUV A18-M, its compactness and its unequaled high-quality imagery this new generation underwater drone becomes the reference in the category of autonomous underwater vehicles dedicated to mine hunting.
AUV A18-M can be easily deployed even from small naval platforms. It has a high level of stability, and it is less affected by waves allowing to obtain a very high image quality. It is able also to detect any kind of hazard,” such as improvised explosive devices (IED) and pollutants. It can also provide very accurate maps of the seabed which allow the environment to be assessed with high fidelity. Moreover it integrates the Synthetic Aperture Sonar (SAS) and has a very high area coverage rate
AUV A18-M can be integrated within a larger unmanned system, such as ECA Group’s Unmanned Maritime Integrated System (UMIS), and benefit from common interfaces, communication network as well as data processing system to work together in order to accomplish tasks simultaneously while operators stay out of danger zones.