Program Executive Office for Unmanned and Small Combatants

Boeing delivers Navy’s first Orca XLUUV

The Navy’s plans for unmanned vessels include uncrewed undersea as well as uncrewed surface vessels and Boeing [NYSE: BA] has now delivered the first Orca Extra Large Uncrewed Undersea Vehicle (XLUUV) to the Navy following completion of acceptance testing month. The XLUUV, designated by the Navy as “Orca,” is a new class of autonomous submarine that can perform long duration critical missions to achieve undersea maritime dominance in changing environments and contested waters.

“This is the...

https://www.marinelog.com/news/boeing-delivers-navys-first-orca-xluuv/

New Torpedo Tube-launched Drones Will Turn U.S. Attack Sub Fleet into ‘UUV Motherships,’ Says Navy

USS Vermont (SSN-792) transits the Thames River while conducting routine operations on Oct. 15, 2020. US Navy Photo

ARLINGTON, Va. – In the near future, the U.S. nuclear attack submarine fleet will be able to launch and recover an underwater robot from a torpedo tube, Navy officials said this week.

The torpedo-sized Razorback — designed to extend the awareness of a submarine— has been in testing on the Navy’s attack boats for more than a year but requires a dry deck shelter and divers to recover...

Navy Taps One-Star To Drive LCS Program Improvements

Information Specialist 1st Class Matthew Stephenson mans the lines as the Freedom-variant littoral combat ship USS Sioux City (LCS-11) gets underway on Aug. 30, 2020. US Navy Photo

The Navy has installed a one-star admiral to oversee a task force focused on refining the employment, maintenance and reliability of the Littoral Combat Ship program, the service announced today.

Rear Adm. Robert Nowakowski, the deputy commander of Navy Recruiting Command and Naval Education and Training Command Force...

Navy Takes Delivery of Sea Hawk Unmanned Vessel

Seahawk USV. Leidos Image

A second medium-sized unmanned surface vessel prototype has delivered to the Navy, builder Leidos announced this week.

Sea Hawk, sister ship to the Navy’s Sea Hunter, was built on the Gulf Coast and is now bound to join the Navy’s Surface Development Squadron One in California, the company said in a Wednesday press release.

In 2017, the Office of Naval research awarded Leidos a $35.5 million contract to build the 145-ton trimaran as a follow-up to the original L3-built...

https://news.usni.org/2021/04/08/navy-takes-delivery-of-sea-hawk-unmanned-vessel

Navy Working on Better Maintainability, Self-Sufficiency for LCS and Rest of Surface Fleet

The Japan Maritime Self-Defense Force (JMSDF) training ships JS Kashima (TV 3508), left, and JS Shimayuki (TV 3513), right, sail alongside the Independence-variant littoral combat ship USS Gabrielle Giffords (LCS-10) during an exercise, June 23, 2020. US Navy Photo

Navy officials in Washington and on the waterfront are trying to help the Littoral Combat Ships grow more reliable and maintainable, amid a surface navy-wide effort to focus on crew-level maintenance as a means of improving...

https://news.usni.org/2021/01/20/navy-working-on-better-maintainability-self-sufficiency-for-lcs-and-rest-of-surface-fleet

Navy Releases Final RFP for Large Displacement Unmanned Underwater Vehicle Program

A surrogate Large Displacement Unmanned Undersea Vehicle (LDUUV) is submerged in the water in preparation for a test to demonstrate the capability of the Navy’s Common Control System (CCS) at the Naval Undersea Warfare Center Keyport in Puget Sound, Wash. in December 2015. US Navy Photo.

The Navy released the final request for proposals (RFP) for its Snakehead Large Displacement Unmanned Underwater Vehicle (LDUUV) Phase 2 program, the largest of its submarine-launched unmanned systems.

The...

https://news.usni.org/2020/12/24/navy-releases-final-rfp-for-large-displacement-unmanned-underwater-vehicle-program

DARPA Testing the Limits of Unmanned Ships in New NOMARS Program

Artist’s concept for a NOMARS design. DAPRA Image

As the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) explores designs for a ship that could operate without humans aboard, the agency is keeping the Navy involved in the effort to ensure it progresses forward should the program’s work succeed.

While the Navy is creating unmanned surface vehicles based off designs meant for ships that could bring humans aboard, the No Manning Required Ship (NOMARS) program is the first to pursue a design that...

https://news.usni.org/2020/10/27/darpa-testing-the-limits-of-unmanned-ships-in-new-nomars-program

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