Charles River Analytics, a developer of intelligent systems solutions, announces two contracts from the US Navy to improve undersea threat defenses. Submarine-launched torpedoes are a significant wartime threat to military and civilian ships, and the Navy is seeking countermeasures through effective methods of detecting, locating, and neutralizing these threats. Charles River is supporting the Navy in this effort via two recently awarded contracts focusing on enhancing torpedo detection, tracking, and fire-control, through the use of Charles River’s multi-sensor information fusion technology, called TSUNAMI, and its analytical research test bed, called CLAW.
Charles River will develop a Torpedo Self-defense Using Networked Automated Machine Intelligence system, known as TSUNAMI, to enhance the torpedo defense picture available to ship commanders. TSUNAMI improves this view and reduces the risks to friendly units by combining observations from multiple sensors in a Battle Group with own ship sensors to rapidly detect, classify, and locate torpedo threats. TSUNAMI will generate torpedo threat alerts and optimize counter-fire in response to a torpedo attack. The threat alerts can trigger a response by self-defense systems such as the Torpedo Warning System (TWS), the US Navy’s next-generation torpedo defense system.
The TWS can destroy inbound torpedo threats and will augment current passive counter-measures and anti-torpedo doctrine. One of the improvements that TWS program development intends to provide is a capability to develop responses against multiple torpedoes. This research is being performed under a second Charles River program funded by the Navy, the CLAW (CAT Learning Algorithm Workbench) effort. Charles River will apply recent developments in intelligent algorithms to existing simulations and models so investigators can identify the most promising design for the TWS.
“In general, TSUNAMI initially detects incoming torpedoes and generates alerts,” explained Mr. Joe Gorman, Division Software Engineer at Charles River. “CLAW then identifies suitable responses to the torpedoes in defense of protected ships.”
“Torpedo defense is obviously of great concern to the US Navy,” said Dr. Scott Neal Reilly, Vice President, Decision Management Systems. “We are excited to have the opportunity to work with them on these projects.”
This material is based upon work supported by the Naval Sea Systems Command under Contracts No. N00024-14-C-4010 and N00021-12-P-4024.
Any opinions, findings and conclusions or recommendations expressed in this material are those of the author(s) and do not necessarily reflect the views of the Naval Sea Systems Command.
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