An appended pod underwater gun mount for a submersible host vessel includes a strut member having a base end fixed to an outer hull of the submersible host vessel and a distal end protruding outwardly from the host vessel, the distal end being angled with respect to the base end, and an ammunition housing moveably fixed to the distal end of the strut member. A train control mechanism is positioned between the strut member and the ammunition housing for controlling the horizontal rotation of the ammunition housing with respect to the host vessel, and a tilt control mechanism is positioned between the strut member and the ammunition housing for controlling the vertical rotation of the ammunition housing with respect to the host vessel. A flexible boot is connected to the ammunition housing and surrounds each of the train control mechanism and the tilt control mechanism to protect the mechanisms from an underwater environment. The ammunition housing is movable both vertically and horizontally with respect to the distal end of the strut member and is spaced apart from the host vessel so as to avoid contacting the host vessel during directional movement of the ammunition housing.
A system for clearing mines and other obstacles is provided. The system mountable to a vehicle which can operate in water and on land, includes a sonar targeting system and an underwater gun system. The underwater gun system is directed by readings from the sonar targeting system and fires underwater munitions to destroy detected mines and obstacles. The pod containing the sonar targeting system and the pod containing the underwater gun system are movable to target in multiple directions with each of the pods deployed at an end of a respective deployment arm.
A projectile based targeting system for underwater objects includes a trainable gun terminal mounted in a waterproof housing. The gun terminal includes plural gun barrels terminating in waterproof breeches. Noise generating projectiles are launched from the gun barrels, and a fire control system selectively fires the projectiles from each of the plural gun barrels in a noise pattern. A host controller detects and processes noise generated by a launched pattern of the noise generating projectiles to give information about the objects. The projectiles each include a void region connected to an outer surface of the projectile by a hole formed in a neck of the projectile. Launching of the projectile creates a vaporous cavity around the projectile and thus the hole, thereby causing the void region to resonate at a noise generating frequency.
