MuST Puerto Rico UXO survey

We are requesting R/V Pelican time for operating MuST, a buried object scanning sonar towbody for UXO surveys in operational environments specified by Environmental Security Technology Certification Program (ESTCP) and Naval Facilities Engineering Systems Command/United States Army Corps of Engineers. The baseline MuST system comprises of a low-frequency, high-grazing angle, high-bandwidth acoustics system (EdgeTech Buried Object Scanning System — eBOSS), a high-frequency, mid-to-low-grazing angle side scan sonar (EdgeTech 2205), and a high-frequency Multibeam sonar (RESON T50). The system contains a FOCUS-3 towbody manufactured by MacArtney Underwater Technology with three sonar systems mounted on the FOCUS-3, as well as a shipboard handling system and shipboard data acquisition with analysis hardware and software. Broadband sonars operating in the kHz to 10’s of kHz regime have shown promise in detecting/classifying buried (and proud) mine-like objects at performance levels and area coverage rates superior to other modalities. Previous SERDP and ESTCP research efforts indicate that the same may be true for munitions but demonstration of the performance in an operational context has not been carried out. This project seeks to address this deficiency by further demonstrating the capabilities of a surface ship/towbody solution that minimizes the in-water, at-risk hardware. (Anticipated Project Completion - 2026)