A simplified concept for recovering a UUV to a submarine

The use of unmanned underwater vehicles (UUVs) to enhance the military capabilities of submarines and to reduce their operational risk is being considered by navies around the world. However, a major difficulty with the operations of UUVs is their recovery back to the submarine at the end of the mission. Various schemes have been proposed by a number of organisations working in this field; however, they all have major drawbacks. A simple concept is proposed based on a warp from the submarine to a low aspect ratio wing, similar to an otter board used by fishing trawlers. This approach allows the submarine to recover the UUV by slowly overtaking it. This is done at a sufficiently large transverse distance between the vessels where hydrodynamic interaction between the two is minimal, with the submarine travelling at a speed at which it can be safely controlled.