AUV System Spec Sheet

Knifefish configuration

Platform: Bluefin-21
Developer: General Dynamics Advanced Informational Systems
Manufacturer: Bluefin Robotics
Distributor: General Dynamics Advanced Informational Systems

Summary

KNIFEFISH
Protecting Ships and Sailors with Modernized Underwater Mine Hunting Capability

Knifefish is a heavyweight class Mine Countermeasure (MCM) Unmanned Undersea Vehicle (UUV) that is designed for deployment off the Littoral Combat Ship (LCS) to detect, avoid and identify mine threats. It will reduce risk to personnel by operating in the minefield as an off-board sensor while the host ship stays outside the minefield boundaries.

The MCM UUV provides the fleet mine warfare commander enhanced mine-hunting capability by detecting, classifying and identifying buried mines and mines in high clutter environments. Knifefish gathers environmental data to provide intelligence support for other mine warfare systems.

A critical element of the LCS MCM mission package, which is comprised of many different mine warfare platforms including Knifefish, is its common open systems architecture design. Such modularity of the mission package allows for platform flexibility and quick reconfiguration of the whole mission package in response to evolving and dynamic mission requirements the fleet will encounter day-to-day.