The U.S. Coast Guard is looking for solutions that can detect unmanned underwater vehicles in near-shore environments. A limited user evaluation of the Argus system was held at Pier 2 at Naval Station Newport from April 25 to May 4. Argus uses off-the-shelf commercial active sonar to detect, track, classify, deter and defeat undersea targets. It combines it with radar and forward looking infrared cameras to track ground and air targets. Argus provides the Coast Guard with the decision support information needed to manage threats. The combined team was able to perform a full user assessment in a short period of time. "It's great to see the team and the system working together," Jon Larcom said.

The demonstration was designed to assist the Coast Guard's detection efforts, particularly counter-UUV missions. The U.S. Coast Guard wanted to determine what resources staff would need to operate Argus. Setup times vary from four to eight hours, depending on weather conditions, network, and staffing. Mike Coleman: The team came together under stress and bad weather conditions. They literally kicked it out of the park. The Argus system has been evaluated by the Rhode Island National University Water Weapons Center (NNUWC) and the U.S. Coast Guard Research and Development Center. NUWC director David Coleman said he was looking for partnerships with other warfighting centers to further develop their capabilities. Argus is the current iteration of a program that started after 9/11 and includes air interface, UUV detection and passive sensing.