Acoustical imaging with compact sensors for mine countermeasures applications

Navy divers are often called upon to identify contacts that have been classified as mine-like by airborne or shipboard MCM systems. Identification relies upon a visual inspection of the contact, but the limitations in contact location accuracy and optical clarity dictate the need for sonar systems to reacquire contacts. The Navy currently relies upon the diver-held aural AN-PQS/2A for this purpose. The Navy has invested heavily in visual imaging sonars to improve reacquisition performance. In the latter half of the 1990s, as small autonomous underwater vehicle (AUV) technology has emerged, multi-beam imagers have been developed for these platforms. An overview of the Navy's past, present, and planned efforts in diver and small AUV platform-based multi-beam visual imaging systems is presented. Particular attention is paid to those systems which are nearing transition to fleet systems.