Defpost.com: ECA Group reveals Mid-Size A18-M AUV for Underwater Mine Warfare

Published in Defpost, April 2018

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A18-M is the new generation of autonomous underwater vehicle dedicated to mcm operations such as mine detection and classification in all water depths up to 300m. This AUV can operate in the close vicinity of the smartest mines without triggering them.

More compact than previous generation of MCM AUV, A18-M is easy to deploy even from small naval platforms such as new generation of Unmanned Surface Vehicle (USV). An advanced embedded processing allows to process sonar image raw data and extract a list of contacts in real time using an unmanned surface vessel (USV) or an unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) as gateway to relay the data back to the stand-off operation center.

In addition, the AUV A18-M is able to automatically adapt its operating depth to the environmental conditions, avoiding blind zones due to sound speed stratification.

the AUV is able also to detect any kind of hazard such as improvised explosive devices (IED), pollutants, as well as to provide very high fidelity. maps of the seabed which allow the environment to be assessed.

The AUV A18-M integrates the Synthetic Aperture Sonar (SAS) for very high area coverage rate of 2km2/hr (which is 5 and 10 times more than that of a conventional side-looking sonar on an AUV). This optimal configuration enables to cover very large areas in a very quick time with far superior image quality, and with reduced risk to personnel.

AUV A18-M can be integrated within a larger unmanned system to benefit from common interfaces, communication network as well as data processing system.

Learn more: ECA Group unveils its new generation mid-size AUV A18-M for underwater mine warfare

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