The Naval Sea Systems Command (NAVSEA) last week issued a sources sought notice for a commercially available large diameter unmanned undersea vehicle (LDUUV) that will likely require modifications to host Navy payloads.
The Navy is pursuing a potential commercial LDUUV after Congress in the fiscal year 2023 defense appropriations allowed the service to terminate its Snakehead large displacement UUV program while directing it to explore commercial alternatives. The Snakehead program was canceled due to cost overruns and schedule delays.
The FY ’23 National Defense Authorization Act directed the Navy to conduct analyses and experiments this year in support of unmanned operations with the objective of identifying commercially available LDUUVs that could be fielded and deployed at scale as early as FY ’24, the service said in the Jun 30 sources sought notice.
“The Navy is interested in commercially available LDUUV solutions, as well as the cost drivers and the timeframe required to field and deploy those unmanned vehicles,” the Navy said.
The notice was issued by NAVSEA on behalf of the Program Executive Office Unmanned and Small Combatants, Unmanned Maritime Systems Program Office. Booz Allen Hamilton [BAH] and/or Johns Hopkins Applied Physics Lab might help the government review responses to the notice. Responses are due by July 31.