THE LACK OF SHIP DEPLOYABLE AND OPERATIONALLY USEFUL MINESWEEPING EQUIPMENT TO COUNTER THE PRESSURE MINE THREAT REMAINS A CRITICAL DEFICIENCY.

THE LACK OF SHIP DEPLOYABLE AND OPERATIONALLY USEFUL MINESWEEPING EQUIPMENT TO COUNTER THE PRESSURE MINE THREAT REMAINS A CRITICAL DEFICIENCY. THIS PROPOSED RESEARCH IS TO INVESTIGATE NEW TECHNIQUES, NEW APPLICATIONS, AND USE OF NEW TECHNOLOGY/MATERIALS FOR DEVELOPMENT OF FEASIBLE NEW APPROACHES TO SOLVE THE PRESSURE MINESWEEPING PROBLEM. TWO NEW PRESSURE MINE COUNTERMEASURE TECHNIQUES ARE TO BE INVESTIGATED FOR FEASIBILITY. COMPUTATIONAL FLUID MECHANICS TECHNIQUES WILL BE USED TO ESTABLISH CAPABILITY TO GENERATE PRESSURE SIGNATURES AND TO INVESTIGATE TOWING AND STABILITY PROBLEMS. BOTH TECHNIQUES WILL BE DEVELOPED TO THE POINT OF TWO TO THREE ENGINEERING IMPLEMENTATION OPTIONS EACH OF WHICH WILL THEN BE ASSESSED TO DETERMINE THE MOST OPERATIONALLY SUITABLE SYSTEM. RECOMMENDATIONS FOR FURTHER DEVELOPMENT OF THESE CONCEPTS, IF WARRANTED, WILL BE IN THE FORM OF SCALE OR FULL MODEL TEST CONCEPTS FOR DEMONSTRATING A PRESSURE MINE SWEEP CAPABILITY. AN EVALUATION MODEL WILL BE DEVELOPED WHICH ASSESSES CANDIDATE PRESSURE MINESWEEPING CONCEPTS FROM AN OPERATIONAL STANDPOINT, AND WILL BE USED TO EVALUATE CANDIDATE SYSTEMS. THIS EVALUATION TOOL WILL INCLUDE APPROPRIATE PARAMETERS SUCH AS PRESSURE FIELD EVALUATION, TOWING TENSIONS, VESSEL POWER REQUIREMENTS, DEPLOYABILITY/RECOVERABILITY, AND OTHER ITEMS RELATED TO THE OPERATIONAL SUITABILITY OF CANDIDATE SYSTEMS.