Fourth Delivery of an L3 ASV C-ENDURO

L3 ASV announced on 5 February it has delivered a long-endurance autonomous vessel, known as the C-ENDURO, to the Royal Navy, to be used for military data gathering trials by the Mine countermeasures and Hydrographic Capability (MHC) programme, as the Navy seeks to exploit autonomous technologies.

The 4.8m autonomous vessel is equipped with 10 sensors combining scientific and hydrographic survey equipment. It operates using L3 ASV’s proprietary control system, ASView and is fitted with the company’s advanced autonomy package, ensuring situational awareness and smart path planning. ASView enables a range of autonomous control modes, including line-following, station-keeping and geofencing.

“This vessel is an evolution of our existing C-ENDURO product range and provides the unique capability to collect a variety of data during any one mission over extended periods,” commented the company’s Sales & Marketing Director, Vince Dobbin.

“The different ways in which the C-ENDURO can be operated will allow the Navy to test and develop the ability of an autonomous unmanned surface vessel (USV) to effectively gather important hydrographic data and potentially form part of a future capability to be delivered by the MHC programme,” added the MHC Team Lead at Defence Equipment and Support, Alex du Pre.

This project marks the fourth delivery of a C-ENDURO vessel. Previous successful missions include an 11-day over-the-horizon marine science mission north of Scotland for the National Oceanography Centre.