The objective of this Topic Area is to demonstrate and validate unexploded ordnance (UXO) Detection, Classification, and Localization (DCL) systems, as well as burial and mobility models, in underwater environments at real-world sites with known munitions presence. Demonstrations should focus on evaluating system capabilities, developing operational concepts, and establishing quality metrics to support the transition of these technologies to broader use. Target sites include aquatic environments such as ponds, lakes, rivers, estuaries, harbors, and coastal or open ocean areas, with depth ranges from the shoreline to 35 meters. Munitions of interest span from small projectiles and mortars to large bombs. Proposals may focus on a subset of environments or munitions types.

Technologies sought include but are not limited to:

• Acoustics
• Electromagnetic Induction
• Magnetics
• Optical Systems
• Burial and Mobility Models

Proposals should include advanced wide-area assessment and detailed survey technologies, evaluation of burial and mobility models, and development of synthetic test sites to facilitate comprehensive evaluations of munitions response technologies.

Specific solutions sought include:

• Wide Area and/or Detailed Survey Technologies. DCL systems must efficiently survey large areas (kilometer-scale) to identify and delineate munitions concentrations, assess the nature and extent of munitions impact, and support regulatory and site management decisions. These systems should also characterize site conditions affecting subsequent remediation efforts, verify areas free from munitions-related activities, and locate individual munitions for recovery and disposal in diverse environments (e.g., varying depths, densities, seafloor conditions, and water turbidity).
• Burial and Mobility Models. Demonstrations must validate the performance, operating parameters, and deployment strategies of burial and mobility models. This includes developing general guidelines for their use in site characterization and long-term management. Models must provide insights into munitions behavior and support operational decisions for underwater sites
• Synthetic Sites. The development of synthetic underwater sites is critical for cost-effective testing of DCL software independent of hardware. These virtual testbeds must simulate sensor responses (e.g., acoustic and EMI systems) and include variations in environmental conditions such as seabed type, water salinity, and bathymetry. Synthetic testbeds should be capable of representing different munitions characteristics, including size, orientation, and burial depth, and should produce standardized outputs for analysis.

Proposals must outline the following:

• A detailed plan for live-site demonstrations, including system components, testing protocols, and site characteristics.*
• Analyses of collected data and deliverables such as detection results, classification and localization outputs, maps, and processed datasets.
• A timeline for live-site demonstrations within one year of funding, with up to one year for system integration and testing at a local facility if necessary.
• Performance objectives and evaluation methods to determine readiness for live-site testing.
• Transition plans describing deployment concepts, cleanup or site management utility, and quality assurance measures.
• Proposals must also specify costs for technology preparation, demonstration, and reporting while excluding site-specific support costs, which will be covered by ESTCP or military services.

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*ESTCP identified the following live sites for potential demonstrations:

Culebra, Puerto Rico 

• Culebra was used by the DoD from 1903 to 1975 for aerial bombing, maneuvers, naval gun fire, artillery training, and amphibious training. An estimated 750,000 naval rounds were fired into the Northwest Peninsula. Prior to 1986, the DoD transferred much of the land to the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico. Across the island, a wide variety of munitions are known to have been used, including but not limited to 100-lb to 2000-lb bombs, projectiles, rockets, mortars, grenades, flares, and torpedoes.
• Two sites are of interest for the demonstration:
  • MRS 3 - Flamenco Bay: Water depths range from shoreline to 40 ft, bottom types are sand, coral, and patchy seagrass; water clarity is normally very good; slopes are gentle to moderate; wave heights vary; and the site is on the windward side of the island. Primary interest is in the near-shore area that can be accessed by swimmers and waders.
  • MRS 12 - Luis Pena Channel and Carlos Rosario Beach: Water depths are from the shore to 65 ft. The site contains a narrow bay that small boats can access and a popular dive/snorkel spot. Access is limited to boating or hiking trail.

San Diego Bay, California 

• The site is a semi enclosed, crescent shaped bay approximately 16.5 square miles at mean low water located in a busy seaport. The seafloor is relatively flat with the water depths range from 3 to 13 ft outside main shipping channel, where the maximum depth is 39 ft. Munitions have been released to San Diego Bay through loss overboard, sinking of ships, aircraft accidents, and training operations. The majority of munitions date from the late 1930s to mid 1950s and are Discarded Military Munitions (DMM). 
• The Navy discovered munitions on a beach that was receiving dredge material as part of a sand-replenishment effort where the source of the sand was a Navy dredging operation in the San Diego Bay Primary Ship Channels. Munitions and Explosives of Concern (MEC) items have been encountered in many places during dredging projects (i.e. dragheads, cutterheads, pump casings, pipes, screen plants, placement sites), and well as following hurricanes and other storm events. A wide variety of munitions are known to be present.

ESTCP also anticipates continuing limited use of the following test sites as needed: 

Sequim Bay

The Sequim Bay underwater test bed is maintained and operated by Pacific Northwest National Laboratory (PNNL). It is located in Washington state in a water depth of 5 to 30 meters with a variety of mud, sand, and gravel substrate. The protected non-urban embayment and temperate climate allows for testing during multiple seasons in optimal conditions. PNNL works with demonstrators on: 1) securing the necessary environmental permits and authorizations in a timely manner to conduct demonstrations, 2) handling all aspects of target and clutter items including obtaining, inventorying, collection of metadata, diver emplacement and recovery, geolocation with submeter accuracy, and secure storage, 3) designing target layouts in the test bed, and collection of environmental ground-truth and metadata for independent scoring of technology demonstrations, and 4) providing operational, logistical and facilities support to remediation system developers during deployment of their technologies.

Hawaii Test Site

The Hawaii test site is operated and maintained by the University of Hawaii. It offers testing of munitions response technologies in a mild climate, with a range of underwater visibility, and variety of environmental settings. A munitions test range complex consisting of multiple demonstration sites for evaluating and comparing the efficacy of MEC detection tools allows customizability depending upon the requirements of technology developers. The primary location is in Coconut Bay, a carbonate environment with good optical clarity. The site managers work with demonstrators on necessary permits. The site provides secure locations and resources to install rapidly deployable test configurations. 

Duck, North Carolina

The Field Research Facility (FRF) in Duck, NC is operated by the US Army Corps of Engineers. It fronts the Atlantic Ocean to the East and the Currituck Sound to the West in Northeastern, North Carolina. It is a natural littoral laboratory, with highly resolved wave and current information measured from the continental shelf through the surf zone, to the beach. The site is a research sanctuary with prohibitions on trawling and fishing to protect instrumentation that is semi-permanently installed on the sea floor and cabled back to shore. Typically, there are no permitting requirements at the FRF for common operations. A variety of munitions can be emplaced and anchored for controlled experiments using FRF vehicles. In addition, the FRF is a former Navy bombing test range, which has resulted in munitions scattered throughout the property including through the surf zone.

Results from this work will provide expanded capability to cost-effectively characterize, remediate, and manage munitions response sites in the underwater environment and to deploy advanced technologies for a wide diversity of site conditions. This can result in more cost effective and environmentally friendly methods for managing munitions response sites, benefiting both military and civilian communities.

The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (USACE) and the U.S. Navy have identified more than 400 underwater sites that are potentially impacted with munitions. Most areas are in shallow water (0-35 m) where the munitions may impact human health and the environment. Some of these sites date back to the 18th century and others were used as recently as this decade. Property potentially containing munitions in underwater environments exceeds 10 million acres.