DSEI Japan 2019: IHI unveils autonomous underwater mine-detection system

Japanese company IHI unveiled an autonomous underwater mine-detection system at the 18–20 November DSEI Japan 2019 defence exhibition in Chiba.

The system, which comprises two different unmanned vehicles, is designed to acquire, process, classify, and relay information about “mine-like objects, among other things, to the mother ship.

Japanese company IHI unveiled a prototype of an AUV at DSEI Japan 2019 designed for use as part of an autonomous underwater mine-detection system. The AUV can operate at depths of up to 3,000 m. (Gabriel Dominguez/IHS Markit)

One of the elements comprising the system is a 5 m-long autonomus underwater vehicle (AUV) that can reach a top speed of 4 kt, has an endurance of up to 24 hours, and can operate at maximum depth of 200 m, 600 m or 3,000 m, depending on the configuration.

In its standard configuration the AUV, which weighs 990 kg and is 690 mm in diameter, is equipped with a side scan sonar, a multi-beam sonar, and a digital video camera, but additional systems and sensors are also available depending on the requirement, a company official told Janes . Navigation is enabled by a combination of GPS/INS and Doppler Velocity Log (DVL) as well as by ultra-short baseline and “sea-floor acoustic lighthouse” systems, added the official.

The AUV prototype unveiled by Japanese company IHI at DSEI Japan 2019 is designed to detect ‘mine-like’ objects and others at various depths and transmit data in real time via a semi-submersible ASV. (Gabriel Dominguez/IHS Markit)