Development of a small boat deployment and recovery system for fiber optic acoustic arrays

The Small Boat Deployment System (SBDS) was developed for the Mobile Inshore Underwater Warfare System Upgrade (MIUW-SU) program to deploy and recover two acoustic arrays and 8-km (4.3 nm) of fiber optic/electrical trunk cable from a 6.7 m (22-ft) Boston Whaler outboard motor boat. The arrays are part of a transportable surveillance system for guarding near shore assets that integrates visual, thermal, radar, EMS and acoustic data. The SBDS consists of a tension limited hydraulic winch, a flexible boom, line thrower, precision GPS navigation system, and acoustic release. The hydraulic winch is controlled by an adjustable relief valve to limit tension during deployment and retrieval. Tension control is needed for preventing damage to the fiber optic cable and for a proper deployment. A flexible boom acts like a fishing pole to even out the dynamic loads caused by boat motion. A line thrower is used to shoot a messenger line over the surf zone to shore. The precision GPS is needed to guide the boat along a predetermined route. An acoustic release is used to recover the array. The development program consisted of testing two experimental prototypes and then combining features from both for the final production system. The first prototype tested tension limited controls on a commercially available hydraulic winch and were used to deploy and recover a 10-km (5.4 nm) cable and array from a 15 m (50-ft) boat. The second prototype used a small capacity electric winch for testing procedures and components on a 6.7-m (22-ft) boat. The production system will be tested on a variety of boats with different shore and sea conditions. The SBDS will be delivered to MIUW units in Jan. 96.