Progress in the development of buried minehunting systems

In FY 2002, the Office of Naval Research (ONR) initiated a project to provide a deliberate capability for hunting buried sea mines. The objectives and approaches for this buried minehunting (BMH) project and the sensor technologies being pursued have been reported. In this paper, we describe progress and current status of this project, including developments in sensors, platforms, system concepts, and testing. Discussion of relevant tests that have been conducted for individual sensors and sensor combinations are included. Future plans to test and demonstrate these technologies and concepts are discussed.