Textron to Demo Unmanned Surface Vessel Capabilities

Textron Systems Advanced Systems, an operating unit of Textron Systems, a Textron Inc. company, announced today that it will demonstrate its Common Unmanned Surface Vessel (CUSV) during a portion of the Trident Warrior 2011 experiment that will take place from July 18-22. Sponsored by the Program Executive Officer Littoral Combat Ship and directed by the U.S. Fleet Forces Command, Trident Warrior 2011 will include a media day hosted by the U.S. Navy on July 20.

The CUSV will complete its Trident Warrior 2011 demonstration in Norfolk, Va., in support of the Navy’s Autonomous Maritime Navigation (AMN) initiative. Textron Systems has successfully integrated AMN into its CUSV, allowing the team to demonstrate robotic naval warfare. Taking advantage of the CUSV’s reconfigurable payload bay and multi-mission flexibility, the addition of AMN’s obstacle avoidance technology delivers maritime “sliding autonomy,” a range of capability from fully autonomous operation to man-in-the-loop intervention.

Sliding autonomy enables local, over-the-horizon and operational control decisions to be made onboard the CUSV. AMN interfaces with the CUSV’s maritime command and control system, which is based upon AAI Unmanned Aircraft Systems’ combat-proven One System® architecture, to support multi-mission/multi-warfare operations capable of being monitored by a single operator in the Universal Command and Control Station.

Designed with a reconfigurable payload bay, CUSV users have the freedom to quickly deploy any payloads necessary to satisfy mission requirements including towing, mine countermeasures, anti-submarine and anti-surface warfare, communications relay, launch and recovery for unmanned aircraft and underwater systems, and intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance.

“Our CUSV has completed several successful demonstrations to date and amassed more than 700 hours of in-water operation,” says Textron Systems Advanced Systems Senior Vice President & General Manager Don Hairston. “The integration of AMN and the CUSV creates a revolutionary capability to support our customers’ current and future objectives, especially in the area of mine and surface warfare. We believe it to be a game-changer for our maritime warfighters, and Trident Warrior 2011 is another outstanding opportunity to demonstrate its power and performance.”