“Charting the Future: How Autonomous Navigation is Revolutionizing Naval Operations”

Anschütz has crafted an exceptional, cohesive Autonomous Navigation and Command System for maritime vessels. Utilizing reliable, readily accessible, and type-certified components, it delivers enhanced safety and sustainable functionality for unmanned systems, while maintaining complete technological independence.

Adaptable from supportive systems to highly automated solutions, and from the oversight and management of unmanned surface vessels (USVs) to automation solutions for large combatants, the system introduces new value across various operational scenarios.

Functioning as a dynamic system, the integrated navigation and command technology from Anschütz guarantees accurate and secure autonomous navigation, control, and operation of unmanned vessels, alongside remote oversight and management from shore facilities, operation centers on motherships, or mobile, modular solutions.

Beyond autonomous navigation, the system facilitates highly adaptable, autonomous execution of various missions, as well as data transmission and integration into a unified operational picture. By connecting diverse units within a network of autonomous systems, the speed and efficacy of maritime operations can be substantially enhanced.

• Intelligence, Surveillance and Reconnaissance (ISR)
  This system conducts highly effective autonomous ISR operations, particularly through the collaboration of multiple units. By integrating advanced electro-optical and various sensors, the tactical mission modules identify and classify contacts and anomalies, merging them in real-time into a clear, precise, and actionable maritime picture.

• Mine Countermeasures – Underwater Detection
  The system incorporates a sonar framework, offering extensive capabilities for identifying, classifying, and documenting mines and other irregularities within a unified tactical picture. This allows for large expanses (e.g., harbor approaches, shipping lanes, anchorages) to be autonomously and efficiently scanned for potential underwater threats, establishing a secure operational area.

• Escort / Shadowing
  To safeguard high-value assets, the autonomous system can be effortlessly assimilated into existing operational strategies and comprehensive point defense measures. It dynamically recognizes threats and responds effectively. The system autonomously navigates the unmanned vessel in a rule-based manner (e.g., adhering to predefined routes, considering rendezvous stations, formations, and compliance with COLREG regulations), ensuring continuous environmental oversight and early detection and reporting of potential threats.

The Autonomous Navigation and Command System extends the commercially available, tried-and-true SYNAPSIS integrated navigation system. The enhanced system integrates further optical sensors and surveillance systems to provide a thorough maritime situational awareness, boasting improved tactical target management, automatic collision avoidance, and dynamic motion regulation. Additional software modules facilitate the automated execution of certain tactical functions, enable data interchange within the autonomous system network, and are designed for future collaboration and integration with maritime C4ISR systems.

The Autonomous Navigation and Command System has undergone rigorous testing in autonomous operations, including two years of evaluations in the Kiel Fjord with over 200 collision avoidance scenarios in realistic conditions. Most recently, an extensive high-speed demonstration with CMN Naval and German Naval Yards in Cherbourg, France, has validated the capabilities of the Anschütz Autonomous Navigation and Command System.