Leidos autonomous hydrography research platform PATHFINDER, homeported in Gulfport MS. Photo courtesy of Leidos. Navies have been doing hydrography — measuring and describing the physical characteristics of the navigable portion of the ocean — long before John Paul Jones and John Barry of the Continental Navy hoisted the ensign of the United States during the Revolutionary War. Their frigates charted depths with a weighted, hemp rope slung over the side and navigated using hand-drawn nautical charts.
Nautical display charts are still being developed today, except hydrography is now conducted on large 40-person vessels like the T-AGS class of ocean survey ships that sport multibeam sonars and collect digital bathymetric-type data to be processed later at onshore facilities.
It’s a manpower-intensive activity, but the work needs to continue apace as the Defense Department pivots to the Pacific. In recent years, however, Leidos has teamed up with the US Navy to take the costly “manpower” portion out of the equation by automating undersea data collection using autonomous vessels.
The goal is to both replace and augment existing naval resources with an autonomous capability that improves navigation for ships and submarines through a better understanding of the characteristics of oceans and seas.
From Sea Hunter and Sea Hawk to autonomous hydrography
Demonstrations of autonomous naval systems are not new, and in May US Pacific Fleet stood up Unmanned Surface Vessel Division One to work on integrating such systems into the fleet. What is new is that development of autonomous surface vessels is now moving into a new phase where they can be built large enough to accommodate acoustic sensors for underwater mapping.
That’s due to the success of two earlier proof-of-concept DARPA programs executed by Leidos. The first was the Anti-Submarine Warfare Continuous Trail Unmanned Vessel, better known as Sea Hunter. At 132 feet long and displacing 135 tons, Sea Hunter is known by its trimaran configuration (two outriggers hanging from a central hull). In 2019, it distinguished itself by becoming the first vessel to autonomously navigate from San Diego to Pearl Harbor and back without a crew (except very short duration boardings by personnel from an escort vessel to check electrical and propulsion systems).
That demonstration vessel was followed by an upgraded version called Sea Hawk. This medium-displacement unmanned surface vehicle (MDUSV), the Navy designation for this class, has significantly increased capabilities compared to smaller USVs in terms of range, seakeeping, and payload capacity. It was designed to provide a forward-deployed and rapid-response asset that can show the way toward autonomy under the Navy’s Distributed Maritime Operations concept of operation.
Now Leidos is taking the next step in autonomy — transitioning from autonomy for autonomy’s sake, which is, of course, a vital step in developing the capability, to adding a specific use case that proves its worth. Working under contract with both the Naval Meteorology and Oceanography Command and the Naval Oceanographic Office, both headquartered at Stennis Space Center, MS, Leidos will take a 45-foot boat named Bertram that was previously used to teach ocean survey to sailors and modify it for long-duration autonomous hydrography (LDAH).
“When you talk about unmanning something or executing a mission set in an autonomous way, the goal is to add a capability that lets you do something with an unmanned vessel that you couldn’t do with a manned vessel,” explained Dan Brintzinghoffer, vice president of the Leidos Maritime System Div. “Or you’re doing it for capacity as you can now do more of something for an extended period of time because essentially you’re saving money and reducing costs because you don’t have people onboard.
“Within that context, the mission is autonomously executing hydrographic surveys so you can create more charts and cover more distances for less money. That’s the bottom line — adding capacity.”
The Bertram is already equipped with state-of-the-art multibeam sonar for hydrographic mapping as part of its former training role, and once Leidos equips it with the necessary elements for autonomous operations, the vessel will begin its first missions in the Gulf of Mexico about one year from now.