GD to built robot mine detector

General Dynamics Advanced Informational Systems has been awarded a Navy contract to design and build the Surface Mine Countermeasure Unmanned Underwater Vehicle system. The development and manufacturing will be done in Panama City, Fla., Greensboro, N.C., Fairfax, Va., and Quincy and Braintree, Mass. GD will hire 10 new employees. The system will initially be a part of the Littoral Combat Ship Mine Warfare mission package. The $86.7 million contract awarded by the Naval Sea Systems Command calls for one Engineering Development Model and five low-rate initial production systems if all options are exercised. The system will be able to identify mines in high-clutter underwater environments in a single pass. It also will gather environmental data that can provide intelligence support for other mine warfare systems. (Source: General Dynamics, 11/09/11) Gulf Coast note: Littoral Combat Ships are being built by General Dynamics as well as Austal USA in Mobile, Ala.; Navy operations in the Gulf Coast include the Naval Surface Warfare Center in Panama City, Fla., and the Naval Meteorology and Oceanography Command, Naval Oceanographic Office, Naval Oceanography Mine Warefare Center and Naval Research Lab detachment, all at South Mississippi's Stennis Space Center.