ASV Global to supply University of Southern Mississippi with its C-Worker 5 USV

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ASV Global will supply the University of Southern Mississippi (USM) with its state-of-the-art C-Worker 5 USV, after USM awarded a contract to the USV company.

The C-Worker 5 USV will reportedly be used for “testing, training, and establishing procedures and protocols” for use of the system by NOAA on future hydrographic programs.

“We are delighted to be working with the USM,” says Thomas Chance, CEO ASV Global.

“The C-Worker 5 is the ideal platform for survey work; to date, more than 11,000 km of hydrographic surveys have been performed with C-Worker 5 USVs, far more than any other diesel powered USV worldwide.”

Monty Graham, Director of USM’s School of Ocean Science and Technology (SOST), says, “the C-Worker 5 from ASV Global will be a great addition to support USM’s growing capabilities in Unmanned Marine Systems Certification and our research toward improved mapping and charting in the Hydrographic Science Research Center.”

USM’s sponsors are also expected to benefit from this USV investment. Those sponsors include NOAA’s Office of Coast Survey and the US Naval Oceanographic Office.

“We are excited that USM has this cutting-edge platform available to teach the next generation of hydrographers,” comments Rear Admiral Shepard Smith, Director of NOAA’s Office of Coast Survey.

Rear Admiral John A. Okon, Commander, Naval Meteorology and Oceanography Command (COMNAVMETOCCOM), adds, “USV technology is key to the US Navy’s future. USM’s acquisition of a C-Worker 5 USV is going to help Naval Oceanography build the more talented and agile fleet that the nation needs.”

The C-Worker 5 USV is an 18-foot-long, “purpose-built diesel powered USV” that has an endurance of seven days at seven knots. The USV has a “keel flange” for subsurface payload equipment, and it also has an air conditioned, 19-inch rack in the hull for topside payload electronics.

According to ASV Global, the C-Worker 5 USV can also accommodate an “oceanographic winch” and A-frame that can be used to deploy a variety of sensors.

The USV can be deployed from a ship, thanks to ASV Global’s development of an accompanying dual davit launch and retrieval system. The complete USV and LARS system can ship in a standard 20-foot ISO container.