In a U.S. Navy field test, Northrop Grumman Corporation’s AQS-24B mine hunting system successfully demonstrated the ability to perform synthetic aperture sonar processing at 18 knots in real time.
The AQS-24B was developed at Northrop Grumman’s Undersea Systems campus in Annapolis. The field testing took place at the U.S. Navy Central Command in Bahrain, May 19-28. The AQS-24B finished 12 for 12 in successfully executing missions during the test exercise. During separate Tactics Development trials in Panama City, Florida, the AQS-24B achieved a record long single sortie tow duration of 16.25 hours from a surface ship.
The AQS-24B has significantly improved image resolution, as well as the speed of real-time sonar processing.
Vice president of Undersea Systems business unit, Northrop Grumman, Alan Lytle said:
The AQS-24B represents a significant advancement of the U.S. Navy’s mine hunting capability, on both the MH-53E helicopters as well as the Mine Hunting Unmanned Surface Vessels (MHUs).
The U.S. Navy can detect, classify and localize modern-day mine threats through the AQS-24B’s enhanced mine hunting sonar.
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Image: Northrop Grumman