公开(公告)号：EP0830282A1

公开(公告)日：1998-03-25

申请号：EP96918992.0

申请日：1996-05-15

申请人： SIPPICAN, INC. ,  SONATECH, INC.

发明人： CARROLL, Alf, L., III ,  PATTEE, William, D. ,  MANNING, Mark, C. ,  MATHER, John, E. ,  WAPNER, Michael, P.

IPC分类号： B63G8 ,  F41F3

CPC分类号： B63G8/30 ,  B63G8/00 ,  F41F3/10

摘要： An expendable autonomous underwater vehicle (10) is deployed from a trash disposal unit (32) of a submarine (30) into a body of water. The vehicle (10) and one or more launch-aiding components (44, 46, 51, 52, 60, 72) are inserted into the trash disposal (32) in an arrangement that results in safe and reliable deployment from the trash disposal unit. The launch-aiding components keep the vehicle in a predetermined orientation within the trash disposal unit prior to deployment and protect the trash disposal unit from damage. The launch-aiding components also aid the vehicle in ejecting from the trash disposal unit and descending into the body of water to a depth at which the vehicle can begin its autonomous operation. In general, the vehicle must be a safe distance away from the submarine before it begins operation. The launch-aiding components fall away from the vehicle in the body of water as the vehicle descends thereinto. The expendable autonomous underwater vehicle, which is typically used by submarine personnel as a training target, drops to the bottom of the body of water after its internal battery is exhausted.