As rolling waves pounded the beach, the operator deftly maneuvered joysticks on a handheld controller, causing the uncrewed aerial vehicle (UAV) a few feet away to ascend and arc gracefully over the Pacific Ocean.
While airborne, the specially designed UAV used sophisticated sensors and software to spot obstacles and potential hazards under the water and sand — all of which appeared on a tablet carried by a second operator standing on the beach.
For the next phase of its performance, the UAV descended to just above the water’s surface and slowly submerged its entire body, gathering even more detailed information about the surf zone before rising again and flying to a designated landing site nearby. It was an impressive display of the use of emergent technologies to gain greater knowledge of the surf zone environment to support Marine Corps amphibious operations.
The UAV was one of multiple technological systems showcased at the recent Technical Concept Experiment (TCE) 23.2, held at Marine Corps Base Camp Pendleton, California.
Sponsored by the Office of Naval Research (ONR), in partnership with I Marine Expeditionary Force (MEF), the event demonstrated ONR-funded technologies designed to enhance the Marine Corps’ capability in carrying out amphibious operations — including explosive hazard defeat (EHD)/mine countermeasures (MCM) as well as intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance.
“Since their inception, the Marines have been known for their ability to come ashore and establish a beachhead and move inland,” said Dr. Tom Drake, head of ONR’s Ocean Battlespace Sensing Department. “Present and future Marines still need to carry out such missions. Our goal is to give them the best possible tools to do that quickly, safely and effectively.”
Bringing together military partners such as Naval Surface Warfare Center Indian Head Division, the Naval Research Laboratory Stennis detachment and Naval Information Warfare Center Pacific — as well as representatives from government, industry and academia — TCE 23.2 aligned with the emerging naval concept known as Expeditionary Advanced Base Operations (EABO), which involves deploying small but highly mobile units to isolated locations. EABO has the potential of quickly getting forces into a strategically vital area, and potentially in an adversary’s weapons engagement zone, in response to an evolving threat when no other U.S. military assets are available.
A key element of EABO is explosive hazard detection and defeat, from the deep water through the beach zone to the inland objective, to enable naval maneuvering. This involves EHD/MCM, obstacle detection, and the use of sensors and software to determine routes for safe passage around hazards.
Approximately 10 technologies developed through ONR funding were demonstrated at TCE 23.2. They involved ground-penetrating radar, magnetic-anomaly detectors, electro-optical and infrared cameras, and software for data processing and crunching artificial intelligence- and machine learning-enabled algorithms. Much of the technology shown during the exercise consisted of advanced sensor-and-software systems encased in commercially available uncrewed (also known as unmanned) platforms like UAVs.
“An event like TCE benefits warfighters by enabling rapid maturation of new technologies,” said Brian Visser, ONR Global science advisor to I MEF. “Some of these technologies have only been in the lab or in very sterile conditions. But here we’re testing them in the field with the clouds, saltwater, dust and Marine operators, in order to shake out the bugs and rapidly iterate and make corrections.
“By enabling autonomous platforms and robotics to perform missions like mine countermeasures, Marines will be safer, faster and more accurate in their detection and defeat of explosive hazards,” he continued.
Dr. Joong Kim, a program officer in ONR’s Ocean Battlespace Sensing Department, said one of the most valuable aspects of TCE 23.2 was getting both early-development technologies and already fielded systems into the hands of Marines for testing and feedback.
“Through these interactions with Marines, we’re talking directly to various generations who are accustomed to seeing a lot of technology development rapidly changing,” he said. “They were excited to see this new technology, instead of the typical old gear, to see what’s on the horizon [for mine detection and defeat].”
Marine Corps 2nd Lt. Maria Peurach agreed: “Right now, when searching for explosive hazards, we’re pretty much limited to mine detectors and probing sticks. The technology shown here could greatly increase our capability to do that. We could do it from farther away, potentially fly drones from ships, vehicles or disparate locations, in order to do that first sweep before Marines come in for the final push."
Watch a video about TCE 23.2 at https://youtu.be/h38k6RuCObc.
Warren Duffie Jr. is a contractor for ONR Corporate Strategic Communications.