Tag Archives: NAWCWD

A sip of fuel sometimes means more than a sip of fuel

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A boat with no crew recently pulled in behind a Navy ship off Virginia and filled its tank, repeating the evolution over 100 times, ultimately transferring about 400 gallons of fuel.

NAWCWD’s Blue Water Instrumentation team ran Sealartec’s robotic refueling rig– dubbed the Towable Capture and Connection Device (TCCD)– a refueling sled/cradle towed behind the training support vessel USNS Vindicator (TSV 5).

An operator steered the MARTAC’s 38-foot T38 Devil Ray unmanned surface vessel into it. Fuel flowed, and the boat pulled away.

The T38 unmanned surface vessel, left, approaches a towable capture and connection device, center, towed by USNS Vindicator (TSV 5), right, during an Aug. 11 refueling demonstration off Joint Expeditionary Base Little Creek-Fort Story, Virginia. Naval Air Warfare Center Weapons Division’s Blue Water Instrumentation program led the demonstration, part of an effort to keep unmanned vessels on station longer during long-range weapons testing. (Courtesy photo)

The T38 unmanned surface vessel, right, closes on a towable capture and connection device, left, under tow during an Aug. 11 refueling demonstration off Joint Expeditionary Base Little Creek-Fort Story, Virginia. Naval Air Warfare Center Weapons Division’s Blue Water Instrumentation program led the demonstration, part of an effort to keep unmanned vessels on station longer during long-range weapons testing. (Courtesy photo)

A refueling probe on the T38 unmanned surface vessel, left, prepares to mate with a towable capture and connection device, right, during an Aug. 11 refueling demonstration off Joint Expeditionary Base Little Creek-Fort Story, Virginia. Naval Air Warfare Center Weapons Division’s Blue Water Instrumentation program led the demonstration, part of an effort to keep unmanned vessels on station longer during long-range weapons testing. (Courtesy photo)

If you did something like this 25 years ago, it would seem like magic.

Today, it is almost anticlimactic.

The next step will be drones refueling drones, keeping autonomous fleets quietly underway for years at a time. No headlines about ships at sea for 250 days…because there won’t be a crew to complain.

You can expect more of the same on a much larger scale moving forward. Everywhere.

Navy Ramjet progress, via Firebee

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The Ryan Model 124, today best known as the BQM-34A Firebee, has been around since the 1950s and has been the most common American jet-powered gunnery target for the past 75 years or so. In short, it has been shot at by just about every weapon in the NATO arsenal.

The humble Firebee has also been used offensively from time to time, used in Vietnam as “SAM sniffer” and in photo recon and psyops roles, and in the 2003 invasion of Iraq to lay chaff corridors for SEAD strikes while the BGM-34 offshoot was tested to drop Shrike and Maverick missiles in remote strike missions.

So it should come as no surprise that a BQM-34 was used this week by the Naval Air Warfare Center Weapons Division to air-launch a Solid Fuel Integral Rocket Ramjet (SFIRR) for the first time.

A BQM-34 unmanned aerial vehicle launches from Point Mugu during a test of the Navy’s Solid Fuel Integral Rocket Ramjet (SFIRR) demonstrator, developed by Naval Air Warfare Center Weapons Division. The test marked the first air launch of SFIRR from an unmanned platform. (U.S. Navy photo)

A BQM-34 unmanned aerial vehicle launches from Point Mugu during a test of the Navy’s Solid Fuel Integral Rocket Ramjet (SFIRR) demonstrator, developed by Naval Air Warfare Center Weapons Division. The test marked the first air launch of SFIRR from an unmanned platform. (U.S. Navy photo)

A BQM-34 unmanned aerial target, which is remotely piloted during flight, releases a test missile over the Point Mugu Sea Range. The test advanced a missile design aimed at improving range and targeting for future Navy missions. (U.S. Navy photo)

As detailed by NAWCWD:

The test also integrated the use of a fire control system on a BQM-34 unmanned target vehicle for live firing, demonstrating advancements in high-speed, long-range weapon capabilities. Launching the missile from an unmanned vehicle can allow warfighters to safely engage targets from greater distances.

As the Lead Prototype Integrator, NAWCWD combined advanced propulsion, avionics, and fire control technologies into the technology demonstrator in just 12 months. Rapidly transitioning technologies from research to operational use is critical for maintaining a warfighting advantage.

“This successful integration validates key aspects of our design and moves us closer to delivering an advanced propulsion system that will provide warfighters with greater range and speed,” said Abbey Horning, product director of NAWCWD’s Advanced Concepts, Prototyping and Experimentation office.