Abstract: In order to explore the impact of towed cable on the maneuverability of underwater vehicle, a dynamic equation of the towed cable is established based on the lumped mass method, the boundary coupling conditions are used to introduce the tension effect generated by the head end of towed cable into the 6-degrees-of-freedom equations of motion of underwater vehicle, and the coupling motion models of towed cable and ship are established. The influence of towed cable on the maneuvering performance of straight sailing, rotary motion and dive movement of underwater vehicle is compared and analyzed through numerical simulation. The numerical analysis results show that the speed of underwater vehicle during straight sailing, rotary motion and dive movement is reduced after the underwater vehicle is equipped with towed cable. When the underwater vehicle rotates, the towed cable reduces the radius of gyration. When the underwater vehicle dives, the towed cable reduces the dive stability of underwater vehicle and the absolute value of ballistic inclination of underwater vehicle, thus increasing the distance to the predetermined depth, and at the same time, the time for the underwater vehicle to reach the predetermined depth increases due to the reduction of speed, which also reduces the dive performance of underwater vehicle. Key

Key words: underwatertowedsystem, maneuverabilityofunderwatervehicle, couplingmotionmodel, lumpedmassmethod