at international display of future mine warfare
Neptune’s out of this world
MACHINES which can think for themselves passed a key test when the Royal Navy took part in an international demonstration of potential minehunters of tomorrow.
The software which guides remotecontrolled vehicles proved more than up to the task – and will ultimately make the dull, dirty and dangerous work of mine clearance safer. A team from the Royal Navy’s Maritime Autonomous Systems Trials Team (MASTT) took part in Hell Bay 3 – a series of trials for unmanned vessels – at Pax River in Maryland. The robotic showcase saw the team conduct trials of Hydroid Remus 100 and Ocean Server IVER3 autonomous underwater vehicles. Both are fitted with the latest SeeTrack Neptune autonomy software and were launched from the RN’s motorboat Hazard, which acts as a ‘mother ship’ to robot submersibles. Collectively, they can hunt for mines faster than the Royal Navy’s Sandown and Hunt-class ships – and have the added benefit of keeping the handful of sailors required to operate them out of harm’s way. The workout at Pax concentrated on the performance of SeeTrack, which has been fitted to all of the autonomous underwater vehicles operated by MASTT. The software allows unmanned systems to share data and determine a course of action. Operators set pre-programmed objectives for up to six unmanned vehicles – either underwater, surface or air – to conduct a search of the seabed with the software able to design a plan on how to achieve this – and react to any obstacles it faces. If any of the vehicles are unable to take part because of a defect, the remaining vehicles divide the tasks up to ensure the overall objective is completed (think of sharing the workload if a colleague goes sick). “The key thing with this software from a mine-warfare perspective is to get the man out of the minefield but not out of the loop,” said MASTT Officer in Charge Lt Cdr Jacqueline McWilliams. “This allows the ship to stand off at a safe distance, send in a number of off-board systems to do the search without the constraints of over-
Arm helicopter. Prof Andy Keane said that after the success of the flight from Mersey, three of the printed aircraft would join HMS Protector for her deployment surveying the Antarctic over the austral summer.
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engineering a seabed search plan. “It allows the system to do on-thespot thinking and then return with data. The operators can then analyse the data and deal with any threats.” The MASTT team operated Hazard, which is capable of speeds up to 30kt, on the Potomac River for the US Office of Naval Research (ONR) event. More than 150 participants from government, academia, industry, and military took part with over 26 technology teams and unmanned systems demonstrated. Dr Jason Stack of the ONR said: “We have and will continue to receive an extremely large benefit from this event – from the relationships made and/or strengthened, from the lessons learned in operating our systems, and from the huge amounts of data collected.” The MASTT role at Pax was as the UK’s military representative for DSTL which has led the Ministry of Defence’s involvement in The Technical Collaborative Programmes (TTCP) involving Australia, Canada, New Zealand, UK and USA. The trials enabled each nation to share knowledge and equipment. The MASTT team’s achievements included the first successful solo Neptune mission using Remus and a multi-vehicle mission involving IVERs. The team then took part in a mission with Canada and one involving two UK IVERs, one UK Remus, two Canadian IVERs and the UK unmanned surface vehicle MV Halcyon operated by ASV/Thales. Lt Cdr McWilliams said: “We came to test a theory and we did it. How good does that feel? Brilliant!” She added: “It was hard work with long days in very warm humid conditions. The team were learning a lot on the go getting to grips with new systems and new software but as ever everyone just got stuck into the job, and in true Naval spirit fought through to overcome any obstacles. “LET(ME) ‘Ken’ Dodd, the only engineer in the unit who was watch on stop on, never complained and was always happy to be involved and ABs Sarah Tapp and Ryan Macphail continually rose to any challenge. The whole team were exceptional and I can’t praise them enough.” During the event five members of the New Zealand’s MCM Team led by WO(D) Johnson were temporarily
Each one will spend 30 minutes flying over the frozen continent and ocean, recording video footage on a miniscule camera, before setting down in the icy waters or on the snow and ice where it will be picked up by Protector’s ship’s company. “The battery and engine should not suffer too much in the cold and once it’s airborne, it can fly in surprisingly rough weather.” Three kilogrammes is light. But it’s way too heavy for the requirements of the Royal Marines’ Surveillance Reconnaissance Squadron, which sends six-man recce teams to size up potential landing sites for the lead body of the Corps. The men are dropped off discreetly by Zodiac RIB, Land Rover or can parachute in, then observe goings on on the ground in any
loaned to MASTT by their CO, Lt Cdr Yvonne Gray RNZN (ex RN), to give them the opportunity to see the developing software and new unmanned systems at work. The final act of Pax 15 was to participate in media and VIP technology demonstration days at the main Pax base, both of which were a resounding success. And after packing all the equipment away ready for shipping back to the UK the MASTT team took a well-deserved free final day to visit Washington DC. The MASTT team at Pax also included CPO(MW) Antony ‘Pinta’ Beer, PO(MW) David ‘Foggy Foggin, LS(MW) David Steven and Sam ‘Smokey’ Coleman, LS(HM) Sarah Burns and Andrew ‘Slats’ Slater, LET(ME) Chris ‘Ken’ Dodd, AB(MW) Sarah Tapp, Ryan MacPhail, Aaron ‘Shucky’ Shuckford and William ‘Wes’ Clayton.
environment – jungle, desert, urban, Arctic, sometimes even temperate. If the squadron is to exploit the latest unmanned technology, the kit – said Maj Oliver Denning, the squadron’s officer commanding – “must be portable, but also able to survive the rigours of Royal Marines operations like RIB insertions and parachute drops.” His unit has been testing Black Hornet, a minute ‘helicopter’ just ten centimetres long and weighing only 16 grammes (pictured left); the British Army used it in the later stages of the campaign in Afghanistan. “Hiding in a bush”, his men launched the Norwegian-made device during exercises on last year’s Cougar deployment, flying it up to 1,500 metres away “showing what is on the other side of that hill, hedge or wall.” The squadron has also tested using automated cameras left on the ground, feeding back “very high quality imagery.” The next step being considered by MOD and industry experts is going even smaller than Black Hornet, weighing just five grammes, which can fly between rooms inside buildings, sending
imagery back to its controllers. The trials and training – not to mention the operational use – of many of these devices have all largely been played out away from prying eyes. Not so the biggest showcase for robotic and autonomous systems the RN has ever staged. Lt Cdr Pete Whitehead, the RN’s deputy robotics officer, likens Unmanned Warrior – incorporated into next autumn’s Joint Warrior war games in and off north-west Scotland – to a a 21st-Century version of the sensation caused by Charles Parsons and the Turbinia at the 1897 Diamond Jubilee Review. Unable to persuade the Admiralty that his steam turbines were far superior to the engines of the day, Parsons gatecrashed the review and raced up and down the lines of capital ships, leaving a picket boat trailing in his wake. Eight years later, HMS Dreadnought became not only the first all-big-gun battleship, but also the first turbine-driven one. Unmanned Warrior is not a competition and won’t lead to orders being placed and contracts being signed. But it will highlight
l Royal Navy motorboat Hazard sails from Webster Field
the technology that is out there and how it might affect the naval operations of tomorrow. “We have the sandpit, you bring the toys, let’s play together,” Lt Cdr Whitehead says. “We need to be able to prove that these devices work for real. This is not about a utopian future of flying cars, jet packs and the like.” As things stand at present, the emphasis in this first ‘Game of Drones’ will be on gathering hydrographic data in the waters off the Scottish west coast, locating mines with automated devices, and using pilotless aircraft to help build a radar picture. In the future, there’s no reason why a drone couldn’t drop sonobuoys over the ocean to help locate submarines, or one day even deliver stores to a ship’s flight deck, rather like Amazon is looking into for some of its customers. Rear Admiral Keith Blount, the head of the Fleet Air Arm, believes the world of unmanned aerial vehicles presented at the confernece “an intoxicating mix of opportunities.” He continued: “We have moved
from a world where unmanned aircraft really were a pipe dream to those on the front line to one where they are transforming our daily business. “When I was in command of our operations in Bahrain, I watched in awe as we worked with ScanEagle. I was amazed by the potential offered by one small unmanned aircraft.” As for Culdrose, it wants to be the go-to place for all unmanned aircraft in the Royal Navy, with the intention of turning the satellite airfield at Predannack into an important test site for the technology. More than 60 years ago, legendary inventor Sir Barnes Wallis tested supersonic and swing wing technology here using unmanned scale gliders – the launch ramp still stands. “It would be a fantastic place to foster unmanned technology – and not just because of that history,” says Cdr Jason Phillips, Culdrose’s Commander Air. “Predannack offers us unique airspace: you only have to fly 500 yards and you’re over the sea, the skies are not crowded, and in Mounts Bay we have one of the Navy’s major exercise areas.” NOVEMBER 2015 : 15