AUV System Spec Sheet

Kokanee LSV-1 configuration

Platform: Kokanee LSV-1
Manufacturer: Southwest Research Institute
Scientific User: Naval Surface Warfare Center Carderock Division

Summary

Kokanee is a one-quarter scale model of the Seawolf (SSN-21). She is an unmanned, battery-powered, free-running model, 90 feet long, 150 tons, with valve regulated lead acid (VRLA) wet cell batteries weighing approximately 25 tons powering a conventional 3000 Hp DC motor. This large-scale structural model was delivered to Bayview in north Idaho in November 1987 and operated in Lake Pend Oreille for research work.

The Large Scale Vehicle Kokanee (LSV-I) is operated by the Acoustic Research Detachment (ARD) for the Naval Sea Systems Command (SEA 92R). Kokanee is a one-quarter scale model of the Seawolf (SSN-21). She is an unmanned, battery-powered, free-running model, 90 feet long, 150 tons, with batteries weighing approximately 25 tons and requiring special, high- powered battery chargers. This large-scale structural model was delivered to Bayview in north Idaho in November 1987 and operated in Lake Pend Oreille for research work.

Lake Pend Oreille provides a deep (1150 ft), quiet body of water where a free-field ocean-like environment is available without the attendant problems and costs of open ocean operations. Unique experimental hardware and floating platforms have been developed to support a wide variety of R&D programs ranging from the measurement of flow induced boundary layer fluctuations on sonar domes to the calibrations of full-scale surface ship sonar transducers. The site’s technical programs typically support analytical efforts at the NSWCCD and contribute to the development of advanced submarine and sonar designs.

In 1967, the first large-scale submarine model was sent to Lake Pend Oreille and ARD began to play an increasingly important role in submarine silencing. This model, named Kamloops after a trout indigenous to Lake Pend Oreille, is a quarter-scale version of the Sturgeon (SSN 637) class submarine. The buoyantly propelled vehicle ‘Kamloops’ supported hydrodynamic flow noise testing. The Kamloops vehicle is a free-rising, unpowered, unmanned model, which provides data for the control of flow-induced self-noise levels at high speeds. Kamloops was used to tested hull, bow, stern, and sail target strength coatings, GRP sonar dome designs, internal treatments (damping) for flow noise mitigation, main ballast tank floodport designs, bow plane seal designs, baffle designs, and torpedo shutter door seal designs. Success with Kamloops led to introduction of the Large Scale Vehicle (LSV) Kokanee.

The Advanced Submarine Technology Development program enhances the capability of the Large Scale Demonstrator System to conduct hydrodynamic/hydroacoustic/flow management/maneuvering tests, as well as development of an advanced propulsion system and sensor & processing technologies being considered for insertion in the New Attack Submarine.

In November 1999 the Advanced Sail was installed on LSV. Changes to the LSV due to the new sail were quantified with a trim verification dive and an inclining experiment. The results indicated all changes to LSV’s weight, moment and BG (center of bouyancy minus center of gravity) were exactly as predicted. The first Advanced Sail underway was scheduled for 17 November 1999. This underway was designed to compress sail components for final torque of attachment bolts and the installation of coatings over those bolts. The crew will tested sail pressure sensors at various depths.