Article Posted on : - Nov 14, 2011

FAIRFAX, VIRGINIA (BNS): The US Navy's Naval Sea Systems Command has awarded General Dynamics Advanced Informational Systems a contract to design and build the Surface Mine Countermeasure Unmanned Underwater Vehicle (SMCM UUV) system.

The system will initially be a part of the Littoral Combat Ship Mine Warfare mission package. The contract has a maximum potential value of $86.7 million for one Engineering Development Model (EDM) and five low-rate initial production systems if all options are exercised.

General Dynamics Advanced Informational Systems is a business unit of General Dynamics.

The SMCM UUV system will allow Navy commanders and sailors to reliably detect and identify mines in high-clutter underwater environments in a single pass, including mines that are suspended in the ocean, resting on the sea floor or buried.

Additionally, it will gather environmental data that can provide intelligence support for other mine warfare systems.