Very-Shallow-Water Mine-Neutralizer System

The naval mine, like its earthbound sibling the land mine, are extremely effective offensive, defensive and psychological weapons, particularly cost-effective in uneven contests, so it’s not surprising that the U.S. Navy is working to overcome enemy deployments. This week EDO was awarded a contract from the engineering and technical support to develop and demonstrate a Very-Shallow-Water (VSW) Mine-Neutralizer concept. The development effort will require EDO to design a console and launcher for the neutralizer concept that will allow future integration with unmanned surface-vehicle applications on the Navy’s new Littoral Combat Ship.

The indefinite-delivery/indefinite-quantity (IDIQ) contract has a ceiling of $9.6 million over a five-year performance period.

In addition to providing the engineering and technical support needed to develop the VSW concept, EDO will test the system’s effectiveness in very shallow water and assist in evaluating test results. This includes demonstrating expendable mine-disposal systems, such as the AN/ASQ-232 Sea Fox, produced by ATLAS Elektronik GmbH. The Navy will then select a common expendable neutralizer for EDO to integrate into the final VSW system.

“The threat of mines in shallow water is a serious concern in combat situations as well as homeland security,” said James M. Smith, EDO's chief executive officer.

"EDO has industry-leading technology in a wide variety of mine-countermeasure systems, and has been providing engineering and design services to the Navy for more than 40 years. Our systems have been used in major minesweeping actions as far back as the Vietnam era and as recently as Operation Iraqi Freedom. This research in very-shallow-water techniques will further strengthen our position as a leader in undersea-warfare technology.”