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ORION
Orion is a towed side scan-sonar that fulfills the US Navy's deep-water search requirement down to
a maximum depth of 20,000 feet of seawater.
ORION and CURV-21 can be combined into a single integrated search & recovery system capable of being deployed
on a USNS T-ATF. The system is based on a .680 fiber-optic umbilical cable and a shared handling system that
can switch at sea between side-scan sonar and ROV operations. The system is self-contained and fly-away transportable
for world wide response on vessels of opportunity.
ORION is a dual frequency (57/240 kHz) two body towed side-scan sonar system. The sonar is mounted in a neutrally
buoyant tow body which trails aft of the weighted umbilical depressor which decouples the sonar from vessel surface
motions providing a more stable platform improving the quality of collected data. The two body sonar system is
towed behind a vessel at slow speeds, generally from 1 - 3 knots depending on the required depth. Sonar signals
are processed producing both an analog and digital display in order to identify potential targets. The low
frequency is primarily used for searching while the higher frequency provides extremely fine details.
Acoustic pingers may be deployed in order to assist an ROV in relocating a target at a later date. Data and
sensor control signals are multiplexed, converted to digital signals and transmitted along the 36,000-foot fiber
optic tow cable.
Experience shows that the system is capable of swath widths of 300 meters for objects torpedo-sized,
1800 meters for aircraft debris fields, and a maximum swath of 3000 meters for bathymetry and large ship wrecks.
GENERAL SPECIFICATIONS
TOW BODY
Length - 10 ft
Width - 3 ft 3 in
Height - 3 ft 11 in
Weight - 3,600 lbs
SONAR RANGE SCALES
57 kHz: 75, 150, 300, 450, 600, 900, and 1500 meters at
3000 watts in high power and 200 watts in low power
240 kHz: 37.5, 75, 150, 300, and 450 meters at 350 watts in
high power and 25 watts in low power
PERFORMANCE
Depth - 20,000 ft of seawater
Speed - 1-3 knots
INSTRUMENTATION
Navigation
Electronic Compass
600 kHz Doppler Velocity Log
Accelerometers
Precision Depth Sensor (0.01% Accuracy)
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