Common Unmanned Surface Vessel from Textron Systems Successful at SUMMIT Demonstration

Textron Systems Advanced Systems, a functional unit of Textron Systems, has declared the success of the common unmanned surface vessel (CUSV) at the demonstration conducted by Supervision of Unmanned Vehicles Mission Management by Interactive Teams (SUMMIT), the Office of Naval Research (ONR) being the sponsor.

The demonstration that spanned 10 days consisted of the Littoral Combat Ship mine countermeasure missions being executed by the CUSV. These missions were controlled by the software-based management program prepared by SUMMIT.

Dr. Sam Taylor was happy to see the performance of the CUSV system and the participation of the AAI team in the SUMMIT. He is the product line manager at the Naval Surface Warfare Center Panama City Division. He added that they were able to demonstrate the working of SUMMIT technologies in relevant conditions that would prevail on the field with the help of CUSV. The VP and General Manager of Textron, Donald Hairston, pointed out that the SUMMIT brought out the ability of the CUSV to easily integrate with Naval assets while undertaking critical mine countermeasure missions. During the SUMMIT, the CUSV was able to operate for more than 700 hours in water. Hairston explained that CUSV is equipped with a reconfigurable payload and an open architecture which make best use of the off-the-shelf components. The reconfigurable payload enables the effective execution of numerous missions. Textron intends to show off the capabilities of the CUSV during the second phase of Trident Warrior, scheduled during October at Norfolk and sponsored by the Program Executive Officer LCS.