US company Critical Solutions international (CSI) showcased two multirole unmanned amphibious systems at the 18–20 November DSEI Japan 2019 defence exhibition in Chiba.
The systems, named the Sea Otter Marine Crawler and the Sea Ox Marine Crawler, can be deployed either on land or at sea – where they can operate in depths of up to 300 m – and carry out a variety of operations, including explosive beachhead breaching, clandestine intelligence gathering, mine detection and clearance, swimmer detection, and pre-positioned supply dumps; or serve as a communications relay or an offshore gear cache.
The Sea Ox Marine Crawler unmanned amphibious vehicle was showcased by CSI at DSEI Japan 2019. (Guruprasad Gangaramiah/IHS Markit)
Both tracked platforms are powered by lithium-ion batteries that enable them to carry out up to 100 days of continuous static observation of an area both on land or at sea, independent of weather or sea conditions.
The amphibious systems can be operated in three different modes – autonomous/pre-programmed, tethered, or as a radio frequency buoy – and can operate in a wide range of environments, including surf zones, dunes, rivers, tailing ponds, marshes, and mudflats.
The manufacturer claims that the systems, both of which can be remotely operated out to a distance of 16 km when submerged and of 38 km when on land, have a high degree of navigational accuracy when operating in autonomous mode and without the use of GPS.
The Sea Otter Marine Crawler unmanned amphibious vehicle was showcased by CSI at DSEI Japan 2019. The platform is stated to have a drag-and-carry capacity of 158 kg. (Guruprasad Gangaramiah/IHS Markit)
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