The AN/BLQ-11 autonomous unmanned undersea vehicle (formerly the Long-Term Mine Reconnaissance System (LMRS)) is a

torpedo tube A torpedo tube is a cylindrical device for launching torpedoes. There are two main types of torpedo tube: underwater tubes fitted to submarines and some surface ships, and deck-mounted units (also referred to as torpedo launchers) installed aboa ...

-launched and tube-recovered underwater search and survey unmanned undersea vehicle (UUV) capable of performing autonomous

minefield A land mine, or landmine, is an explosive weapon often concealed under or camouflaged on the ground, and designed to destroy or disable enemy targets as they pass over or near it. Land mines are divided into two types: anti-tank mines, wh ...

reconnaissance as much as in advance of a host -, -, or -class

submarine A submarine (often shortened to sub) is a watercraft capable of independent operation underwater. (It differs from a submersible, which has more limited underwater capability.) The term "submarine" is also sometimes used historically or infor ...

. LMRS is equipped with both forward-looking

sonar Sonar (sound navigation and ranging or sonic navigation and ranging) is a technique that uses sound propagation (usually underwater, as in submarine navigation) to navigate, measure distances ( ranging), communicate with or detect objects o ...

and side-scan

synthetic aperture sonar Synthetic-aperture sonar (SAS) is a form of sonar in which sophisticated post-processing of sonar data is used in ways closely analogous to synthetic-aperture radar. Synthetic-aperture sonars combine a number of acoustic pings to form an image wi ...

Boeing The Boeing Company, or simply Boeing (), is an American multinational corporation that designs, manufactures, and sells airplanes, rotorcraft, rockets, satellites, and missiles worldwide. The company also provides leasing and product support s ...

concluded the detailed design phase of the development project on 31 August 1999. In January 2006, successfully demonstrated homing and docking of an LMRS UUV system during at-sea testing.

History

The USS Oklahoma City successfully launched the 8 m (20 ft) long vehicle for covert mine countermeasures in September 2005. The USS Scranton conducted 24 test runs in January 2006. In October 2007, USS Hartford conducted further tests. The U.S. Navy's Mission Reconfigurable UUV System (MRUUVS) program, of which AN/BLQ-11 was a part, ended in December 2008 due to technical and engineering limitations.

Citations

Sources

Equipment of the United States Navy Autonomous underwater vehicles {{USN-stub