Determination and influence of the main parameters for the launch and recovery of an unmanned underwater vehicle from a submarine

Abstract

In a previous paper (1995) we described a concept for the launch and recovery of an unmanned underwater vehicle from a submarine. We proposed to eject the heavy-weight torpedo shaped vehicle through the submarine's torpedo tube. The recovery was divided in phases from the end of the mission to the capture by the submarine recovery device. The present paper is based on the same assumptions, but in addition to our previous work, we try to focus on the external parameters occurring during the launch and the recovery of the unmanned vehicle. Considering every sequence from launching to recovering, we look for the elements external to the vehicle in the surrounding water. Then we try to link each element to the vehicle by a functionality (principal or constraint). We determine which of the parameters related to the external elements are the most important for each sequence. We then look for the interactions between these parameters and how we can take everything into account in order to study and model each sequence.