AN/BLQ-11 Long-Term Mine Reconnaissance System
American torpedo tube-launched underwater search and survey unmanned undersea vehicle
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The AN/BLQ-11 is an autonomous unmanned undersea vehicle (UUV) formerly called Long-Term Mine Reconnaissance System (LMRS). It was developed by Boeing Defense, Space & Security for the United States Navy. The LMRS is a torpedo tube-launched and tube-recovered underwater search and survey vehicle capable of autonomous naval minefield reconnaissance as much as 120 miles (190 km) in advance of its host Los Angeles-, Seawolf-, or Virginia-class submarine.[1] LMRS is equipped with both forward-looking sonar and side-scan synthetic aperture sonar.
| Class overview | |
|---|---|
| Name | AN/BLQ-11 |
| Builders | Boeing Defense, Space & Security |
| Operators |  United States Navy |
| General characteristics | |
| Type | Autonomous underwater vehicle |
| Displacement | 2,743 pounds (1,244 kg) |
| Length | 20 ft (6.1 m) |
| Beam | 1 ft 9 in (0.53 m) |
| Height | 1 ft 9 in (0.53 m) |
| Propulsion | Thrusters |
| Endurance | 60 hours (nominal load) |
| Test depth | 3,300 ft (1,000 m; 550 fathoms) |
| Sensors & processing systems | Forward/side-scan synthetic aperture sonar |
History
Boeing concluded the detailed design phase of the development project on 31 August 1999. The USS Oklahoma City (SSN-723) successfully launched the 20-foot (6.1 m) long vehicle for covert mine countermeasures in September 2005. In January 2006 sea trials, the USS Scranton (SSN-756) conducted 24 test runs successfully demonstrating homing and docking of an LMRS UUV.[2] In October 2007, USS Hartford (SSN-768) conducted further tests.
Due to technical and engineering limitations the U.S. Navy's Mission Reconfigurable UUV System (MRUUVS) program, of which AN/BLQ-11 was a part, ended in December 2008.[3][4]
