A major exercise and demonstration of unmanned autonomous undersea vehicles (AUVs) will take place in Narragansett Bay from May 12-23, 2008 during AUVfest 2008. The event is hosted by the Naval Undersea Warfare Center (NUWC) Division Newport and co-sponsored by the Office of Naval Research (ONR) and the National Oceanographic and Atmospheric Administration Office (NOAA) of Ocean Exploration.
Since 1997, the U. S. Navy´s Office of Naval Research has sponsored Autonomous Underwater Vehicle Festivals to expose both the defense and scientific communities to technical advances and common applications in AUV technology. The AUVfest 2008 theme is "Partnership Runs Deep: ONR Unmanned Mine Hunting Technologies help NOAA Explore Sunken History."
ONR manages science and technology research for the Navy and Marine Corps and sponsors basic and applied research in oceanography, advanced materials, sensors, robotics, biomedical science and technology, electronics, surveillance, mathematics, manufacturing technology, information science, advanced combat systems, and technologies for ships, submarines, aircraft, ground vehicles—and much more.
Date: May 12-23, 2008 (Media day: May 21)
Location: Naval Undersea Warfare Center, Narragansett Bay, Rhode Island
What: Approximately 13 AUV technologies will demonstrate several Navy mine countermeasure mission objectives: searching and mapping capabilities; mine hunting and neutralization; and hull inspections.
ONR will demonstrate its Mine Countermeasure Mission Module, Battlespace Preparation Autonomous Underwater Vehicle (BPAUV), and other systems it designed and developed to be incorporated into the first Littoral Combat Ship, USS Freedom (LCS-1).
Marine archaeologists from NOAA will survey two sunken Revolutionary War era British frigates in Narragansett Bay with AUV´s to attempt to discover long-buried artifacts, and map two 20th century wrecks about which little is known.
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