20,000 feet; and some of them including the main cable connector, tool 

 drive assembly and claw, altimeter, compass, sonar, and 35 mm still 

 camera are appropriate for use on CURV IV. Other CURV in components 

 such as the buoyancy unit, hydraulic power package, and propulsion sys- 

 tem are presently designed to operate at 20,000 feet, but may be altered 

 or replaced to improve reliability or increase versatility in the CURV IV 

 system. 



The other components which are needed to make up a CURV system 

 are not, in their present form on CURV III, designed for operation at 

 20,000 feet. Some of these such as the small cables and connectors, 

 pressurized electronics, pressure housings, frame, and lights require 

 development, but they will probably not constitute technical barriers, 

 since state-of-the-art equipment and techniques exist that can be adapted 

 to CURV IV requirements. 



After eliminating the components which are good to 20,000 feet, and 

 those which can be developed within the current state-of-the-art, we find 

 there are two major technical barriers to CURV IV presently anticipated: 

 (1) the main cable including transmission, support, handling, and storage 

 and (2) vehicle bottom navigation. 



The technical barriers that the cable and bottom navigation develop- 

 ments present to the deep application of unmanned systems will be de- 

 scribed below in detail to delineate problems and interfaces of develop- 

 ment, to give anticipated approaches, and to postulate the chances of over- 

 coming the technical barriers. 



TECHNICAL BARRIER: CABLE TRANSMISSION, 

 SUPPORT, HANDLING, AND STORAGE 



To establish the CURV capability at 20,000 feet, the control cable 

 must house the conductors necessary to transmit approximately 30 KVA 

 power to the vehicle, receive TV signals from the vehicle, transmit con- 

 trol signals to the vehicle, and transmit and receive other miscellaneous 

 power and sensor signals. In addition the cable must have the proper in- 

 sulation, be nonhosing (water-blocked) and have a tough yet flexible outer 

 jacket. This can be accomplished in the present state-of-the-art only 

 with a cable that is larger in diameter and heavier than on CURV III. The 

 size and weight of the cable are crucial to system performance because 

 of their effect on support, handling and storage. At this point it is not cer- 

 tain how large nor how heavy the cable can become , but it is obvious that 

 a significant change has taken place between the 2,500-foot CURV n cable 

 and the 7,000-foot CURV III cable. The diameter has grown from 1-1/4 



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