The Navy’s undersea systems office and the Defense Innovation Unit (DIU) have selected Anduril Industries, Kongsberg Discovery, and Oceaneering International [OII] to prototype large unmanned underwater vessels (UUVs) for testing.
The awards were made by the DIU with a base period of four months each and options to extend the period of performance to two years. The values of the contracts were not disclosed.
DIU said one of the key efforts to the Audio large displacement UUV (LDUUV) project is for long-endurance vessels “that can deliver payloads and effectors against adversaries for subsea and seabed warfare (SSW) as well as undersea warfare (USW) scenarios.”
DIU is partnered with the Navy Sea Systems Command’s (NAVSEA) Program Office for Advanced Undersea Systems (PMS 394) to identify commercial solutions to meet the SSW and USW needs.
“NAVSEA, in partnership with the DIU, has selected the best in industry from industry to rapidly advance new undersea capabilities in the subsea and seabed warfare domain,” Capt. Grady Hill, program manager for PMS 394, said in a statement. “We are accelerating our development plans by utilizing rapid contracting authorities to speed capability to the fleet.”
DIU’s release said that live demonstrations will begin in March. Anduril offers the three-ton DIVE-LD autonomous UUV for long-endurance, and flexible multi-mission operations.
Anduril said that its selection followed a “swim-off” competition that included government defined missions. The company also provided its Lattice mission autonomy command and control software, which was used by its engineers to track its DIVE-LD with operators worldwide, “highlighting how multiple operators, units, and watch floors can leverage Lattice for remote mission monitoring and execution.”
Kongsberg has a family of autonomous UUVs it calls HUGIN, including the Endurance, which has a 15-day mission duration, a depth rating of 6,000 meters, and an operational range up to 2,200 kilometers.
Oceaneering’s Freedom autonomous UUV is used for subsea survey work, including pipeline inspections. Freedom can recharge from a submerged docking station where it can also receive mission updates, according to the company’s website.
In addition to DIU and PMS 394, the commercial LDUUV effort is being supported by the Navy’s Pacific Fleet, the Navy Undersea Warfare Center Division Newport, the Naval Surface Warfare Center Carderock, the Navy Program Manager Expeditionary Missions (PMS 408) and Unmanned Maritime Systems (PMS 406), Johns Hopkins Univ. Applied Physics Laboratory, Penn State Applied Research Laboratories, and Undersea Unmanned Vehicle Squadron ONE.
DIU last summer issued a solicitation for its LDUUV competition.