Men and dolphins had worked together before, but this was the first time the unmanned underwater vehicle REMUS was teamed with them in a wartime situation. REMUS (which stands for Remote Environmental Monitoring UnitS) was originally developed to conduct coastal surveys in support of science, and then later improved for military use with support from the Office of Naval Research and the U.S. Special Operations Command.
Today, REMUS not only performs rapid environmental surveys, it also functions as an underwater mine reconnaissance tool that operates effectively in shallow water.
In Iraq, REMUS was sent out to perform wide area surveys. The dolphins then swam out to inspect potential targets located by REMUS, and the Navy and Marine Corps followed up to perform demolition tasks.
REMUS is small and light enough (80 lbs) for two men to handle, and can travel up to 60 miles at speeds between 3-5 knots at depths up to 300 feet. It is programmed using a laptop computer, and can employ sound-emitting transponders as navigational reference beacons, or its onboard computer can autonomously select another more appropriate navigation method to use.
Once launched, REMUS carries out its programmed assignment, and then makes its way back to the ship for recovery with the data it has collected.
Off Umm Qasr, REMUS was sent out with its side-scan sonar to systematically survey the port channel waters that were seeded with mines. Once the sonar images were processed, dolphins were sent in to inspect potential targets, and report back on what they'd found. In the end, several mines were tagged and
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Contact: Gail Cleere
cleereg@onr.navy.mil
703-696-4987
Office of Naval Research
30-Jun-2003