Project Stiletto
The Office of Force Transformation initiated Wolf PAC as an operational experiment designed to explore command and control of geographically dispersed, networked, autonomous and semi-autonomous vessels and vehicles, one being the experimental vessel Stiletto.
Stiletto is 88 foot long, 40 foot wide all carbon fiber vessel that can operate at speeds up to 50 knots, with a range of 500 nautical miles. It is designed to deliver special operations forces to shore, sustain them while on their mission and provide them with onboard supported information, surveillance and reconnaissance (ISR) assets for over the horizon sensing, tracking and targeting.
During May 2006 members of San Diego based Naval Special Clearance Team 1 (NSCT-1) now Explosives Ordinance Disposal Mobile Unit One (EODMU1) participated in a comprehensive multiple day operation - Howler Mine Clearance Experiment that was part of the Wolf PAC initiative. The Stiletto was the maritime platform for mine detection in the littoral zone ? inside 10 nautical miles from shore. The concepts tested included using autonomous systems collectively gathering information for combined effect allowing analysis of data in real time and to fuse, plan, and exploit information in the near term.
The Manta and Silver Fox UAVs were integrated by NSCT-1 in the ISR missions. The Manta UAV was launched from the Stiletto?s upper deck while the Silver Fox UAV from deployed and then launched from Ridged Hull Inflatable Boats (RHIB). The UAVs transmitted real time data and images to operators and command centers onboard the Stiletto and to a technical operations center inland. Operations consisted of launch, flight operations and operator control handoffs for recovery and re-launch. The missions included detection of submerged and buried mine targets using hyperspectral, thermal imaging and color cameras flown autonomously.
From the successful operations tactics, techniques and procedures were developed for future applications and missions of the UAVs by US Marine Expeditionary and US Army units. In addition the UAV capabilities developed are being used for environmental research studies in Polar Regions of Greenland, the Maldives and Hawaii under programs for NOAA, Scripps Institute and others.
Stiletto Operations Image Gallery
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Tucson,
Arizona 85706
