![]() ![]() The program seeks to develop and deliver incremental capabilities, demonstrate key autonomy enablers and improve reliability, Iera said.Ī balance between rigorous focus on systems engineering and speed of execution is the key to reliable and effective unmanned systems, he said. The program office is expanding participation in fleet exercises, providing warfighters the opportunities to “test, experiment and learn first-hand about USV capabilities.”Ī chart displayed at the panel identified six pillars of USV engineering, to include a reliable hull, mechanical and electrical systems, advanced networks and radios, integrated combat systems, vessel control software, sensory and perception autonomy and platform and payload prototyping.Ī goal of the large unmanned ship program is executing a comprehensive land-based and sea-based prototyping strategy. Iera also reported progress on the Navy’s four major unmanned surface vehicles, or USV, programs. The demand for unmanned systems in modern warfare makes them crucial to maritime dominance, Iera said. “We’re focused on enabling those missions that are unique to undersea, and that’s where we focus on tech development,” he said. The program is focused on maturing technologies that enable endurance, communications, precision navigation and advanced autonomy, he added. The Viperfish medium underwater vehicle will leverage similar technologies and capabilities as well as the Razorback, Iera said.īecause the robots are sent on missions underwater for long durations there are limitations, he said. The Razorback currently requires a dry deck shelter and divers for recovery. It is intended for torpedo launch and recovery missions. The Razorback, a medium submarine-launched UUV, is part of a contract collaboration between PMS 406 and 408, Iera said. The development team completed successful protype testing last year and is making “good progress” on the vehicle, he reported. The service’s Snakehead undersea vehicle, its largest submarine-launched unmanned underwater vehicle, has requirements for both surface and submarine deployments, Iera said. ![]() The Orca is just one of several unmanned underwater vehicle projects underway with the Navy. The Navy is now expecting the five vehicles between February and June of 2024. The first Orca was originally slated for delivery in December 2020, with all five expected by the end of calendar year 2022, GAO said. In March 2019, the Navy awarded an $11.6 million contract for the boat to Boeing’s Defense Space and Security division for up to five prototypes. In fiscal year 2017, the Navy identified the submarine as a solution to address a Joint Operational Need issued in 2015, according to a September Government Accountability Office report, “Extra Large Unmanned Undersea Vehicle: Navy Needs to Employ Better Management Practices to Ensure Swift Delivery to the Fleet.” The vehicle’s objective is to deploy undersea mines although it could carry a variety of payloads. The Orca XLUUV, or extra large unmanned underwater vehicle, is a long-range modular vehicle and the first unmanned diesel electric submarine. Researchers are currently conducting land-based subsystem testing, and will be “in the water for full systems testing very soon,” Rob Iera, principal assistant program manager for PMS 406 Unmanned Maritime Systems, said at an American Society of Naval Engineers’ Technology, Systems and Ships Symposium. ARLINGTON, Virginia - The Navy is preparing to transition its largest unmanned submarine to date from land-based testing to underwater trials “very soon,” a service official said Jan. ![]()
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