SBIR/STTR Award attributes
The Department of the Navy (DON) has a national security related need for highly compactible deployable structures for air-deployed canister sonobuoys. These systems must stow compactly within the confines of a A-type sonobuoy canister, deploy and position a volumetric array of sensor nodes that acoustically detect submarine engine noise. As submarines continue to reduce noise outputs to enhance stealth, sensor arrays must be larger, more sensor dense and distributed more broadly in contested areas. Sonobuoy systems are deployed from patrol aircraft or helicopters and position themselves from 100ft. to 1,000 ft. below the surface. Due to this broad depth of operation, sonobuoy deployable systems must be structurally robust to survive loads enacted by waves, surface currents and shear currents at varying depths. To address the DON’s two top priorities; sonobuoy systems less than $500 and compactly packaging highly expandable deployable array structures, Opterus proposes the High Strain Composite the (HSC) boom deployed volumetric array. The concept uses a stabilization weight to tension an array of sensors in a cylindrical shape. The deployable boom structures at the top and bottom of the array maintain the cylinder shape. In the Phase II effort Opterus will critically focus on prototype fabrication and test in relevant environments such as submerged deployment and deployed sea-state tow testing. The composite material systems will be evaluated and vetted for performance in an undersea, conductive fluid that creates a highly corrosive environment. Working closely with its commercialization and transition partner, in the Phase II option effort Opterus will develop high volume, low-cost manufacturing provesses to realize less deployable structure objective cost of less than $500 per system.
