Underwater systems producer Aquabotix has made its first sale to the United States Naval Undersea Warfare Center (NUWC) to support unexploded ordnance detection missions.
Aquabotix said that its subsidiary Aquabotix Technology Corporation has been granted an award of USD 78,000 in funding from the US Navy’s NUWC to deliver its solution.
After delivery, this solution will be incorporated into Aquabotix’s SwarmDiverTM or other unmanned underwater vehicles manufactured by the company.
As informed, ordnance that was disposed of or did not explode when deployed in previous conflicts poses a risk of detonation, even decades later, and is found in shallow waters across the globe. A Texas A&M University study estimated there are over 13.6 million kilograms of ordnance just in the Gulf of Mexico alone. To avoid accidental detonation of these explosives, mission support is required to detect, locate, and neutralize them.
This initial funding from the navy supports continued SwarmDiverTM product development that is tailored to provide a solution for a sizable and currently otherwise unaddressed governmental need, according to Aquabotix.
Detection and neutralization of unexploded ordnance are among many uses for SwarmDiverTM, and the company said it is actively pursuing multiple opportunities for a range of uses and modifications of SwarmDiverTM with the various branches of the United States military.
“Governmental procurement processes can take extended periods of time, yet NUWC obligated the funds within one month after we started our discussions about the issue with them. Aquabotix’s products are the platform for the solution to this immediate military need, and we look forward to this first phase of our co-operation with the navy,” Whitney Million, Aquabotix’s CEO, remarked.