L3Harris Technologies has received an order to upgrade three Iver3 Autonomous Underwater Vehicles (AUV) to be used in support of the Royal Navy’s Project Wilton.
L3Harris will upgrade the Iver3 vehicles with the capability to integrate high-accuracy
navigation sensors and advanced communications for surface tracking with collaborative autonomy architecture and automatic target recognition. The Royal Navy will use the upgraded Iver vehicles during unmanned mine hunting and other missions.
The Project Wilton programme will provide a portable route survey capability, using a suite of equipment, including autonomous surface craft, autonomous underwater vehicles, remotely operated vehicles, and a portable operations centre. The initial program operating capability is planned for Q3 2020.
Commander Steven White Royal Navy, Commander First Mine Counter Measures Squadron (MCM1) said: “We look forward to trialling and incorporating the upgraded Iver3 as part of the Wilton equipment set.”
The MCM1 Squadron conducts route survey operations in the UK waters and in many areas throughout the world to ensure freedom of navigation for commercial and military shipping.
L3Harris vice-president / general manager Unmanned Maritime Systems Daryl Slocum said: “We are pleased to support the Royal Navy in their mine countermeasure missions and peacetime route surveys. We are proud to be part of the autonomy revolution and will continue to evolve the Iver platform to keep it at the cutting edge.”
L3Harris Technologies is an agile global aerospace and defence technology innovator, delivering end-to-end solutions that meet customers’ mission-critical needs. The company provides advanced defence and commercial technologies across air, land, sea, space and cyber domains. L3Harris has approximately $18bn in annual revenue and 48,000 employees with customers in more than 100 countries.