OceanScan-MST Delivers Additional LAUV Units to Danish Navy
A second delivery of Lightweight Autonomous Underwater Vehicle (LAUV) units to the Danish Navy took place in April 2022 in the naval base of Frederikshavn, Denmark. This delivery is part of a framework agreement between OceanScan-MST, a Portuguese manufacturer of LAUVs, and the Danish Ministry of Defence Acquisition and Logistics Organisation (DALO).
These LAUVs will be part of a larger fleet to be used for mine hunting applications. LAUV units that were delivered previously are already being used for regular operations by the Danish Navy MCM team and several contacts of interest have been found.
Surveying Large Areas
This delivery is composed of additional LAUV units with a similar payload configuration to that of the previous units, consisting of a dual frequency high-resolution side-scan sonar from Klein, an Inertial Navigation System from iXblue, a Doppler Velocity Log from Nortek and multiple communication capabilities at the surface and under the water. An upcoming delivery will include an LAUV unit equipped with a Voyis imaging system that will be used for mine identification and bottom photogrammetry.
The LAUV is an autonomous surveying tool capable of covering large areas, down to 200m of depth and operating for more than 10 hours with high position accuracy. In the course of the sea trials, the new LAUV units were deployed in the open sea and were used to gather side-scan sonar data from the seabed. During the survey, a sonar target (pre-deployed) was found and the contact position was within 3m of uncertainty, after the LAUV had been submerged for more than 2.5 hours, travelling over 8km without any external navigation aids. During the survey, each LAUV periodically reported its status and mission progress to the supporting vessel.
