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Navatek ETM SLED-36 test boat |
Aft Lifting Body (ALB) on ETM SLED |
The U.S, Navy currently deploys two 11-meter Navatek ETM® SLED craft.
These two unmanned surface vessels are carried aboard the Navy’s two, new Littoral Combat Ships from which they’re deployed for anti-submarine warfare. Neither craft is equipped with an aft lifting body (ALB).
In 2007, Navatek received a Navy SBIR (Small Business Innovation Research) grant sponsored by the Naval Sea Systems Command to analyze the feasibility and benefits of installing a Navatek aft lifting body to the ETM SLED USV, with the goal of providing motion compensation for towing applications. Based on promising results from this study, Navatek received a follow-on 2008 Phase II grant from the Navy to equip a 36-foot (11-meter) ETM SLED with an ALB, and conducted successful sea trials on this SLED-36 ALB craft in 2009. Project objectives included demonstrating the ability of the ALB to reduce stern motions and increase towing force.
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