Photo By Petty Officer 1st Class Justin Yarborough | U.S. NAVY ICE CAMP QUEENFISH (March 9, 2022) - Sonar Technician (Submarine) 2nd Class...... read more read more
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U.S. NAVY ICE CAMP QUEENFISH – At the U.S. Navy’s Ice Exercise (ICEX) 2022 in the Arctic this year, Navy specialists are turning the world of unmanned underwater vehicles upside down.
Literally.
Specialists from the Navy’s Unmanned Undersea Vehicles Squadron (UUVRON) ONE and Naval Undersea Warfare Center (NUWC) in Keyport, Washington, have faced the challenge of preparing their unmanned undersea vehicles (UUV) for Arctic operations.
To overcome it, they developed a solution only the Arctic – and its floating ice – could provide.
“Normally, the vehicle navigates relative to the ocean bottom, and it senses that based on certain sonar capabilities,” said Senior Chief Submarine Sonar Technician Troy Barnhart, who led a three-person UUVRON-1 team to ICEX 2022.
“But in this region, the ocean is too deep and the ocean bottom is too far away for that navigation to be effective,” he continued. “So we flipped it around, and instead of navigating relative to the ocean bottom, it navigates relative to the ocean ice, which presents additional challenges, because Arctic ice is always moving.”
The UUVRON-1 and NUWC-Keyport team has been working for approximately five years on modifications to their Iver3-580 UUV, a 100-inch-long, nearly 6-inch-diameter cylindrical vehicle weighing around 90 pounds.
The device serves as a hydrographic survey tool, with side-imaging sonar and the ability to monitor water salinity.
“This tool collects oceanographic information to provide submarines a higher fidelity of data about the environment they’re operating in,” Barnhart said.
“During ICEX we can push our Navy gear to its limits, learn more about how it’s affected by the Arctic environment and continue to build confidence in the capability we can bring to one of the world’s most challenging spaces,” said Rear Adm. Richard Seif, commander of the Naval Undersea Warfighting Development Center in Groton, Connecticut, and the ranking officer at ICEX 2022.
ICEX 2022 is a joint combined exercise that takes place over the course of a month north of the Arctic circle, with personnel stationed at the temporary Ice Camp Queenfish, built on a floe of Arctic ice in international waters, as well as in Prudhoe Bay, Alaska, and two operational U.S. Navy submarines. ICEX allows the Navy to assess its operational readiness in the Arctic, increase experience in the region, advance understanding of the Arctic environment, and continue to develop relationships with other services, allies and partner organizations.
ICEX 2022 is taking place in the Arctic region at the same time as U.S. Northern Command's Arctic Edge, a biennial exercise designed to provide realistic and effective training for participants using the premier training locations available throughout Alaska, ensuring the ability to rapidly deploy and operate in the Arctic. Arctic Edge takes place over the course of three weeks and will have approximately 1,000 participants, including U.S. and Canadian service members, U.S. Coast Guardsmen, and government employees from the U.S. Department of Defense and Canada’s Department of National Defence.
| Date Taken: | 02.28.2022 |
| Date Posted: | 03.11.2022 20:44 |
| Story ID: | 415481 |
| Location: | US |
| Web Views: | 1,304 |
| Downloads: | 0 |
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