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Navy Tests Airborne Laser Mine Detection
07/16/10 - 12:04 PM

By Dan Broadstreet, NSWC PCD Public Affairs

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The Navy is leveraging the rapid pace of today’s technology to decrease the size, weight, and power requirements for many of its weapons platforms. So what is going to be tomorrow’s cutting-edge application revolutionizing the Navy’s ability to conduct Airborne Mine Countermeasures (AMCM)? The answer—the Airborne Laser Mine Detection System (ALMDS).

ALMDS uses a pulsed laser light and streak tube receiver housed in an external equipment pod to image the entire near-surface water column to detect the presence of potential mines.

The Naval Surface Warfare Center Panama City Division (NSWC PCD) conducted the first flight of Developmental Testing II-E, Phase 1 for the AN/AES-1 ALMDS on 8 June 2010. The objectives of the test were to measure ALMDS performance against key performance parameters and technical performance measures, verify software trouble reports corrections, and conduct post mission analysis and tactics verification.

“The Navy’s traditional methods for hunting, detecting, and neutralizing mines involve long timelines and Sailors entering the minefield. ALMDS provides the Fleet an efficient, state-of-the-art, and safe method of detection which removes the Sailor from the mine field.” said Danny Georgiadis, Assistant Program Manager for ALMDS.

Georgiadis said the program’s recent primary focus has been on software/algorithm modifications to improve the Probability of Detection/Classification and to decrease false contacts.

“The government/Northrop Grumman team has significantly improved the automatic target recognition algorithms, and this first flight is a tremendous milestone achievement in preparation for an OPEVAL next year,” Georgiadis said.

“We flew the first AMCM flight back in 1952 and it is our distinct privilege to have been the site where another significant flight for AMCM has occurred,” said Capt. Thomas Brovarone, USN. “This team is making a significant contribution to the United States Navy and demonstrates that the NSWC PCD is a leader in littoral warfare and coastal defense.”

NSWC PCD ALMDS System Engineer, Tom Fanning, explained that the system has been integrated into the MH-60S helicopter.

“Equipped aboard this airframe, this system provides a rapid wide-area reconnaissance and assessment of mine threats in littoral zones,” Fanning said.

The ALMDS is a key element of the mine warfare mission package designed as a modular option for the Littoral Combat Ship (LCS). The ship will host five AMCM systems, developed to provide a full spectrum MCM capability resident within the Navy’s Expeditionary and Carrier Strike Groups (ESGs/CSGs).

NSWC PCD Test Director, Nate Smith, said currently the Navy has to tether mine hunting and sweeping towed bodies via cable to helicopters, which has proven effective, but is slower than what is attainable using ALMDS.

“Because ALMDS enables us to conduct operations without being tethered to the airframe, we have attained higher area search rates than what we have with the towed sonar bodies,” Smith said. “ALMDS also provides the advantage of conducting day or night operations without having to stop to stream out or recover equipment.”

“It’s very exciting to have witnessed this system go from concept to reality,” said NSWC PCD Project Engineer, Karen Borel. “This design is ingenious because it uses the forward motion of the helicopter to generate image data and it also provides accurate localization to support follow-on neutralization of detected mines.”

Borel said the Navy is striving to field systems that leverage cutting-edge technology to distance Sailors from danger.

“This system is literally going to save lives by taking our Sailors out of the mine field,” Borel said.