Patent ID: 7183742

Claim:
A charging system for an unmanned underwater vehicle, comprising: an electrical port adapted to electrically couple to an unmanned underwater vehicle (UUV); a fuel source; a fuel cell adapted to selectively receive fuel from the fuel source and configured, upon receipt thereof, to generate electrical power; a battery; and a controller adapted to receive a UUV docking signal that indicates at least when the electrical port is electrically coupled to at least a portion of the UUV and one or more signals representative of at least a state of charge of the battery, the controller operable, in response to the UUV docking signal, to (i) selectively fluidly couple the fuel cell to the fuel source and (ii) selectively electrically couple the fuel cell to the electrical port, and further operable, in response to the one or more signals representative of at least a state of charge of the battery, to selectively electrically couple the fuel cell to the battery, to thereby recharge the battery to a predetermined state of charge.