The DLBA division of Gibbs & Cox announced that it will be supporting DARPA's Tactical Technology Office (TTO) on its revolutionary No Manning Required, Ship (NOMARS) Program.
The program will design, build, and field test an unmanned surface ship that can operate autonomously for long durations at sea with no human interventions or underway maintenance. DLBA was selected by DARPA to explore the trade space for clean-sheet vessel designs developed without any provision for crew on board. The intent of the effort is to create a paradigm shift in the design of marine surface vehicles as the industry transitions from manned to unmanned platforms, while leveraging newly established and developmental technologies to increase capability, increase reliability, and reduce total ownership cost.
NOMARS is a two-phased program, with the first phase centered on trade space exploration, development of a clean-sheet concept design, and maturation of concept into a preliminary design. DLBA have assembled a team of subject matter experts and industry leaders to explore the many research areas of this program, some of which are: hull, mechanical and electrical systems; self-adaptive health monitoring and predictive analytics; power generation, distribution, and energy storage; as well as advanced depot-based maintenance concepts.
The company will assess the interdependencies of the technical domains and evaluate each domain against overarching variables of cost, endurance, reliability, and manufacturability to ensure that the vessel design is optimized in all aspects of performance, production, and maintainability.
The views, opinions, and/or findings expressed here are those of Gibbs & Cox and should not be interpreted as representing the official views or policies of the Department of Defense or the U.S. Government.
DLBA is a naval architecture and marine engineering firm which provides consulting services for the design and construction management of motor yachts, fiberglass recreational boats, and aluminum workboats.
Gibbs & Cox is the largest independent and privately-owned naval architecture and marine engineering firm in the U.S., the company said.
