Battelle's Proteus Submersible vehicle Overview and Special duel mode (Interview)

Interview of Ross Lindman, senior vice president for operations with the USG, at the Navy League’s Sea-Air-Space Expo about the Battelle Proteus "duel mode" submarine from Undersea Solutions group. The Proteus is a submersible undersea vehicle created by what is now HII's Undersea Solution Group (USG), Battelle and Bluefin Robotics. The craft came under HII's purview in late January with the purchase of the Columbia Group's Engineering Solutions Group, an outfit with long experience building swimmer delivery vehicles for the US Navy.

The Proteus is unique, designed to be manually crewed or to function as an autonomous, unmanned underwater vehicle.

The craft was built in 2012 at the Group's facility in Panama City, Florida. Since becoming operational, the Proteus has been evaluated by a number of Navy entities, including the Naval Research Laboratory, the Naval Surface Warfare Center in Panama City, the Naval Special Warfare Command in Coronado, California, and the Space and Warfare Systems Command.

The Proteus is not a submarine, in the sense that it does not provide a dry environment. As a "wet sub," the interior remains flooded at all times, although divers can hook into onboard air flasks. An air module can support a team of six divers up to eight hours.

Two divers can fit in the forward end of the vehicle, while directly behind them is a payload bay that opens at the bottom to raise and lower equipment. The craft's lifting mechanism can hoist and lower loads up to 3,600 pounds. Such operations can be carried out in manned modes or as an unmanned vehicle.

Battelle handled development of the craft's navigational and software systems, while software was developed by Battelle subsidiary Bluefin Robotics.

The software was developed originally for the Knifefish, an autonomous underwater vehicle developed as a mine hunter for the US Navy. The Proteus also uses the same lithium polymer batteries that power the Knifefish.

Since entering service, the Proteus has run more than 100 test missions and logged more than 400 hours underwater.

The Proteus is just under 26 feet long, with a diameter of about 5 feet 4 inches, and can be transported in a standard, 40-foot container. Two 20-foot containers are used to carry support gear. The vessel has been transported by air and by road.

The craft has a top speed of nine and a half knots submerged and cruises at eight knots. In unmanned mode, the Proteus can maintain four knots for increased range.

The estimated price for the craft is between $10 million and $12 million.

More Info: http://www.battelle.org/our-work/national-security/maritime-technologies/submersibles

Navy Playlist: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=z_WJdUlppCI&list=PLsWKNvuOwNpJCw45OUYZ6TIW7LRUdXXFl

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