Quote:
Originally Posted by flipper35
I see the Navy is working on a LIDAR mine detection unit on Seahawks now. Sounds like they are able to look underwater a fair distance with it.
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Looking for mines in the surf zone, near surf zone has been the Quest for the Holy Grail for over 30 years.
As a CDR I actually worked what was then called "Organic Airborne Mine Countermeasures", or OAMCM. What a cluster foxtrot. We tried to take system developed for the MH-53E and stuff them in a MH-60S.
Yikes.
However, their is value in LiDAR and other systems. The Navy flew a system called "Magic Lantern in the 80's and 90's.
Here is a picture of an AQS-20, side scanning sonar that is towed by the host aircraft squeezed into a 60S. I actually had a hand in this sheep dip:
I never flew it. A good friend of mine, who was the CO of VX-1 when this thing was in test, did. He said it was the hardest, most vexing flying he did in over 4000 helo hours.
Program did not move forward.