General Dynamics Advanced Information Systems (GD-AIS) announced yesterday it has successfully completed the comprehensive risk reduction program for the U.S. Navy’s Knifefish Surface Mine Countermeasure Unmanned Undersea Vehicle (UUV) program. The configuration item test (CIT) successfully verified key components within the UUV system including the hardware architecture and critical areas of hardware and software integration. It was designed to discover any potential systems defect early on in the program’s development phase.
“The completion of this significant milestone is a great achievement for our Knifefish team,” said Thomas Kirchmaier, president of General Dynamics Advanced Information Systems. “As an essential component of the Navy’s surface-ship mine countermeasure mission packages, Knifefish will help meet the constantly-evolving requirements of today’s fleet and greatly reduce risk to Navy personnel and ships.”
By performing the CIT effort at this phase of the Knifefish program, the team can identify critical elements that could be detrimental to the delivery and operational availability of the Knifefish program if left to the later program phases.
“Overcoming unique size, weight and power challenges are keystones to the successful deployment of the Navy’s Knifefish program,” said Tom Mason, senior program manager of General Dynamics Advanced Information Systems. “Completing these early discovery programs is critical for meeting the program’s schedule and cost requirements.”
Operations are scheduled to begin in 2017 and Knifefish will reduce risk to personnel by operating in the minefield as an off-board sensor while the host ship stays outside the minefield boundaries.
