The Remote Environmental Monitoring Unit System (REMUS) was developed by the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution in the late 1990s to support oceanographic data collection. Funding was provided by the Office of Naval Research (ONR), the National Oceanographic Partnership Program and the National Science Foundation. Early REMUS projects included a scientific mission off the coast of New Jersey at the long-term ecosystem observatory. Hydrographic reconnaissance and very shallow water mine countermeasures operations were supported by ONR and the U.S. Special Operations Command.
Today, REMUS incorporates real-time, computer-aided detection and computer-aided classification processing, global positioning system, inertial and baseline navigation, acoustic communication and Iridium/Wi-Fi data relay, dual-frequency side scanning sonar and electro-optical identification sensors for search, classification, bottom mapping, reacquisition and identification of mines and mine-like objects.
REMUS missions are planned using a highly refined interface program on a laptop computer and then are transferred to the vehicle before launch. The UUV self-navigates to a designated mission area and employs its sensors on a pre-planned route to gather information about the environment, including acoustic and electro-optic imagery of the sea bottom. REMUS can be programmed to self-adjust its mission profile to further investigate and re-image detected bottom objects or react to new mission profiles remotely transmitted to the vehicle by the tactical decision-maker.
REMUS enables the warfighter to remotely and clandestinely survey and search the littoral battlespace in support of special operations and amphibious warfare. Additional missions can include search of confined areas, such as ports, harbors and anchorages. Standoff deployment of the UUV increases the margin of safety for those historically tasked with such dangerous missions. REMUS capabilities also allow the rapid determination of battlespace situation, reducing the traditional time it has taken to prepare the battlespace for special operations missions and amphibious assault.