Remotely Operated Vehicle (ROV) Deployed Underwater Attachment

Texas Research Institute Austin, Inc. (TRI/Austin) and Florida Institute of Technology (FIT) in the Phase I effort will implement the use of a revolutionary new class of adhesives to attach C4 to underwater mines. These adhesives are extraordinarily insensitive to water, tolerant of unprepared surfaces, and offer extremely rapid cure and excellent bond strength. These materials can be applied using a simple, lightweight, single shot, disposable coaxial syringe and static mix head. The application equipment weighs a few ounces, can be used to rapidly emplace the devices, and immediately discarded (left with the explosive charge). The proposed fast adhesive approach will easily hold a weight of several pounds, and will have a two-year shelf life. The system architecture task will define the adhesive delivery mechanism, container for the C4, buoyancy compensation, biofoul grooming tool and modular interface with the ROV. To optimize the new design, test structures will be constructed and subsequently tested and evaluated. Based on the resulting test data, prototype structures for the Modular CDS will be designed, analyzed, manufactured, and tested. An economic analysis will be performed to provide a cost estimate for the Modular CDS.