Design of an Underwater Mine Countermeasure System

Department of Systems Engineering and Operations Research

Method of Analysis Future Work

Context Problem & Need Statements

Mission RequirementsMR.1 System operators shall be protected from mine explosions.

MR.2 The system shall detect underwater moored mines.

MR.3 The system shall cover XX square miles in XX hours.

MR.4 The system shall be transportable on current Navy ships.

Concept of Operations1. Vehicle tows a sonar through water using existing sonar and vehicle systems2. Sonar Alternative: pair 3 vehicles with 2 sonar alternatives3. Time and cost calculations

Simulation Simulate time and total cost needed to clear 1 square mile Energy will be converted to a fuel cost. Total Cost = Fuel cost + cost of manning requirements + acquisition cost + lifecycle cost . Assumption Acceleration forces are negligible Tow angle is same for all vehicle alternatives

Problem Statement

Mines are a very effective method of blocking shipping lanes, restricting Naval operations.

The placing of mines in waterways can have severely negative economic and environmental impact.

The ability to clear waterways of mines is slow and costly. Need Statement

There is a need for the U.S Navy to improve the effectiveness of mine clearance systems by Reducing operational cost Increasing the rate of detection and neutralization of underwater mines Removing health risk of personnel

The threat of underwater mines is increasing because they are easy to build and difficult to detect/neutralize.

Design Alternatives Importance of Maritime Travel• 70% of Earth is covered in water, 80% of the human population lives within 60 miles of

coastal areas, and 90% of global commerce is conducted by sea• Inland waterways link coastal area and cities to the open oceans, and experience heavy

commercial and military traffic

Importance of Naval Operations • It is critical that waterways remain clear of threats for the unimpeded conduct of Coast

Guard and Navy missions.• Underwater mines can block waterways and severely hinder the progress of a naval

fleet. Gap• Cost to lay a minefield can be 0.5%-10% the cost of clearing a minefield• Take up to 200 times longer to clear a minefield than to lay the same minefield Sonar Operation Procedure to clear a minefieldI. Sends sound wavesII. Receives sound wave echoesIII. Towed through the water

Underwater Mine Clearance Process 1st pass: Mine detection2nd pass: Mine neutralization3rd pass: Verification

Limitations• Transportation and manning contains majority of cost• Operating speed is limited by sonar

Determine the time it takes for each alternative to clear the area of mines, and how much energy was used. The energy can then be converted to a fuel cost. Fuel cost will be added to cost of manning requirements, acquisition cost, and lifecycle cost to find a total system cost.

Rate of detection needs to be considered as an input to the simulation.

Possible correlation between variable inputs for the simulation need to be addressed.

Current technology will be considered as a baseline.

Method of Analysis

Surface Alternatives

Underwater Alternatives

Airborne Alternatives

Textron Fleet-Class Common Unmanned

Surface Vessel

Lockheed Martin Remote Multi-Mission Vehicle (RMMV)

U.S. Marine Corps K-Max U.S. Navy Fire

Scout

0

2

4

6

8

10

12Value Hierarchy/Tradeoff

Utility

Process Time (h) Safety

Util

ity

Cost ($)

Sonar Alternative

Thales T-SAS Raytheon AN/AQS-20A

Input/output Block Diagram

Energy Volume of Fuel CostJoules Gallons $

Energy Density for:

• Diesel = 128,450 BTU/Gal.• Gasoline = 116,090 BTU/Gal.

Energy to Cost Calculation

Upon completion of simulation, Sensitivity Analysis and Tradeoff Analysis will be performed before the presenting a recommendation upon project completion.