Navy tasks Aerojet Rocketdyne to mature energy management systems for UUVs
NewsMarch 27, 2017
SACRAMENTO, Calif. U.S. Navy officials selected Aerojet Rocketdyne, Inc., a subsidiary of Aerojet Rocketdyne Holdings, Inc., to mature and demonstrate capabilities of a power and energy management system that will allow underwater unmanned vehicles (UUVs) to be charged wirelessly undersea. The contract is worth an estimated $1.6 million.
Under contract, Aerojet Rocketdyne will also mature and demonstrate the system's software capabilities, which will enable the Navy to prioritize and schedule fielded UUVs that require remote recharging. The concept is part of the Navy's Forward-Deployed Energy and Communications Outpost (FDECO) program, which was born out of the Office of Naval Research (ONR).
The Navy uses UUVs for a number of purposes, including ocean-floor mapping, optimizing remote sensing platforms, as well as locating and identifying underwater threats such as mines. With Aerojet Rocketdyne's power and energy management system, the UUVs will be able to recharge wirelessly, upload data and download orders - without having to travel to a port or surface ships. The Navy will also be able to coordinate multiple UUVs needing to be recharged wirelessly via FDECO.
Once Aerojet Rocketdyne matures the engineering hardware and software technologies, the company will exercise those capabilities in a series of U.S. Navy demonstrations. This contract extends through 2018.
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