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Executive Summary:
The Navy is currently undergoing a transformation with a focus centered on littoral
warfare. In order to successfully operate in the littorals, a mastery of the littoral Anti-
Submarine Warfare (ASW) situation is required. One approach deals with the
deployment of large Unmanned Underwater Vehicles (UUV’s) to establish a littoral
ASW sensor grid. The ship designed for the carrying, deployment, and maintenance of
these UUV’s is the catamaran SEA TENTACLE. SEA TENTACLE is a high-speed catamaran that is capable of conducting operations in
shallow water. It is designed to either act independently or in conjunction with other
naval forces. The design is focused around the capability to carry, deploy, and maintain
large numbers of UUV’s. In addition the ship’s combat system provides for robust
offensive and defensive capabilities in the realm of ASW, Surface Warfare, and Anti-Air-
Warfare.
The vessel is equipped with an Advanced Multi Function RF system, a sonar suite, 32
Extended Sea Sparrow missiles, a Millennium Gun, two 7 meter Rigid Hull Inflatable
Boats (RHIB), two 11 meter RHIB’s, two Vertical Take Off Unmanned Ariel Vehicles,
and two SH-60R Helicopters. The ship can also be used to fire boxed weapons such as
ASROC. Through its Helicopters, the ship is able to deliver ASW torpedoes. The
combat system suite is designed to be open and compatible with other navy systems.
The UUV Payload is based on the load out of 48 Sea Predators, each mated with a sled.
When launched, the Sea Predator will travel to its target destination, which may be up to
200 nm. Once there, the sled forms the “hub” of a sensor network. Additional UUV’s
deploy from the Sea Predator and provide power and signal processing capabilities to the
network. Although designed for Sea Predators, the Sea Tentacle can be used to carry any
other UUV covered in the Navy’s UUV master plan.
Two LM2500+’s, a LM6000 and a 3
MW Allison Generator, for emergency
use, power the SEA TENTACLE.
Two 37 MW synchronous high
temperature superconducting (HTS)
motors drive two Rolls Royce Bird-
Johnson AWJ-21 waterjets as the
primary means of propulsion. Twopodded
propulsors located on each
demihull provide 500 SHP for low
speed maneuverability. Port and
starboard AC Buses provide 13.8
KVAC 3-phase power for propulsion
and combat systems. Port and
starboard DC buses provide 1000 VDC
power for ships service, combat
systems and auxiliaries. The
integrated design allows for continuity
of power under casualty conditions.
More Information:
The following documents are available for download.
- Final Report
PDF file, 408 pages, 6.41 MB.
- Presentation
Student brief. PPT file, 13 MB.
- Design Summary
PDF file, 2 pages, 1.33 MB.
- Introduction to Ship Systems Engineering Programs at NPS
Faculty brief. PPT file, 0.4 MB.
- Final Project CD
All files, including synchronized video/slides, from the TSSE and Systems Engineering Analysis (SEA) student cohorts. This is in HTML format and will open up in a new browser window.
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