SAIC, APS, Woods Hole Complete DARPA DASH Testing

The SHARK UUV during testing. Photo courtesy Bluefin Robotics.

DARPA has completed the Phase 2 testing of an underwater vehicle for the DASH program, in conjunction with its contractors SAIC and Applied Physical Systems.  



The second phase of the DASH program, for Distributed Agile Submarine Hunting, tested functional sonar, communications and mobility in deep-ocean depths. Each contractor contributed to a portion of the testing. SAIC’s Transformational Reliable Acoustic Path System, or TRAPS, is a fixed-passive sonar node, meanwhile APS was responsible for the platform, the Submarine Hold at RisK (SHARK) unmanned underwater vehicle. Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution supported the physical network of the DASH project, part of the DARPA Deep Sea Operations Program. 



The UUV is made by APS subcontractor Bluefin Robotics, whose testing occurred in February at a dock in the company’s headquarters of Quincy, Mass. The UUV swam for six days, including two 4,450-meter dives totaling 11 hours. 



“Sending the prototype deep for the first time was like going to another planet and took nerve,” says Andy Coon, DARPA program manager. “I am very pleased with the team and the vehicle’s performance at sea. We knew the design requirements of the system were challenging for industry to meet, especially when constrained to a price point that required designers to incorporate commercial off-the-shelf components not normally used at these depths.”



Phase III of the contract was awarded in early March for the full integration of deep-sea sonar onto the UUV and the production of a second system, according to a Bluefin press release.



"I am proud to have a team, partners and vendors that step up to solve subsea challenges," says David P. Kelly, president and CEO of Bluefin Robotics. "We are looking forward to tackling the next set of challenges posed by the DARPA program and applying our hard-won experiences to others."