An unmanned vehicle including a vehicle body, a propulsion system, a maneuvering system, a vehicle control system, a buoyancy control system, a sensor system, and at least one power supply is disclosed. The propulsion system, maneuvering system, vehicle control system, buoyancy control system, sensor system, and power supply are carried by the vehicle body. The sensor system includes a sensor adapted to detect an item of interest and provide an item of interest signal to the vehicle control system. The vehicle control system is adapted to receive the item of interest signal, identify an item of interest classification and provide a classification signal. The classification signal is determined by the item of interest classification and is utilized by the propulsion system, maneuvering system, vehicle control system, or buoyancy control system to avoid physical, electrical, acoustic, or thermal detection of the unmanned vehicle by the item of interest.

The present invention is broadly directed to an unmanned surface vessel (USV) 10 broadly comprising: 1. a vessel body (12) adapted to contain a payload (14); 2. a front fin (16) and a rear fin (18) connected to and protruding from the vessel body (12); 3. a forward foil (20) and a rearward foil (22) connected to a distal end region of the respective front and rear fins (16) and (18); 4. propulsion means (24) operatively coupled to the rear fin (18) for propulsion of the fin (18) and the foil (22) through the water.

The present invention is broadly directed to an unmanned surface vessel (USV) 10 broadly comprising: 1. a vessel body (12) adapted to contain a payload (14); 2. a front fin (16) and a rear fin (18) connected to and protruding from the vessel body (12); 3. a forward foil (20) and a rearward foil (22) connected to a distal end region of the respective front and rear fins (16) and (18); 4. propulsion means (24) operatively coupled to the rear fin (18) for propulsion of the fin (18) and the foil (22) through the water.

An unmanned vehicle including a vehicle body, a propulsion system, a maneuvering system, a vehicle control system, a buoyancy control system, a sensor system, and at least one power supply is disclosed. The propulsion system, maneuvering system, vehicle control system, buoyancy control system, sensor system, and power supply are carried by the vehicle body. The sensor system includes a sensor adapted to detect an item of interest and provide an item of interest signal to the vehicle control system. The vehicle control system is adapted to receive the item of interest signal, identify an item of interest classification and provide a classification signal. The classification signal is determined by the item of interest classification and is utilized by the propulsion system, maneuvering system, vehicle control system, or buoyancy control system to avoid physical, electrical, acoustic, or thermal detection of the unmanned vehicle by the item of interest.

The systems and associated methods are for autonomously launching and recovering payload objects such as vessels, equipment and people by partially submerging a multi-mode unmanned vehicle in a controlled manner. Mechanical, power, signal and logical system components operate in a coordinated manner to repeatedly and reliably perform unmanned launch and recovery of payloads in a variety of conditions and sea states from a catamaran style hull with multi-mode, high-performance characteristics.

The invention is directed towards a passive heave compensation arrangement for compensating for heave events in the open water, when loading or offloading/launching objects. The arrangement is part of a system that includes a water vessel that is operating on open water, a davit, and an object to be loaded/offloaded. The davit includes a stanchion, a boom, and a capture head for capturing objects within the head. The arrangement includes first and second winches, as well as a gas spring that applies forces to the boom in response to heave events, the gas spring as a part of the arrangement, passively compensating for every heave event.

The systems and associated methods are for autonomously launching and recovering payload objects such as vessels, equipment and people by partially submerging a multi-mode unmanned vehicle in a controlled manner. Mechanical, power, signal and logical system components operate in a coordinated manner to repeatedly and reliably perform unmanned launch and recovery of payloads in a variety of conditions and sea states from a catamaran style hull with multi-mode, high-performance characteristics.

In one embodiment, a method of automated missile launcher reloading includes positioning a canister positioning device proximate to a canister. The canister positioning device is coupled to a pivot arm by one or more pivot joints and the pivot arm is coupled to a tower. The method also includes coupling the canister positioning device to the canister, attaching a hoist cable to the canister, and raising the pivot arm on the tower from a first position on the tower to a second position on the tower. The method further includes adjusting a positioning of the pivot arm to position the canister proximate to a launcher cell, adjusting a positioning of the pivot joints to align the canister with the launcher cell, and lowering the hoist cable to lower the canister into the launcher cell.

In one embodiment, a method of automated missile launcher reloading includes positioning a canister positioning device proximate to a canister. The canister positioning device is coupled to a pivot arm by one or more pivot joints and the pivot arm is coupled to a tower. The method also includes coupling the canister positioning device to the canister, attaching a hoist cable to the canister, and raising the pivot arm on the tower from a first position on the tower to a second position on the tower. The method further includes adjusting a positioning of the pivot arm to position the canister proximate to a launcher cell, adjusting a positioning of the pivot joints to align the canister with the launcher cell, and lowering the hoist cable to lower the canister into the launcher cell.

Disclosed herein is an aquatic vehicle torpedo launch system comprising of an aquatic vehicle. A torpedo launch system is coupled to the aquatic vehicle. The torpedo launch system is operable in a neutral buoyance position. A plurality of torpedoes is included. Each torpedo is coupled to the torpedo launch system with a locking means. Power cables are coupled to each torpedo providing power to the plurality of torpedoes. Fiber optic cables are coupled to each torpedo enabling programming of the plurality of torpedoes. The locking means, the power cables and the fiber optic cables are disengaged from the plurality of torpedoes prior to launch. Each torpedo is launched by buoyancy.