Razorback UUV

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 Pushing to Maintain 2023 USV Program of Record Timeline

A Ghost Fleet Overlord test vessel takes part in a capstone demonstration during the conclusion of Phase I of the program in September. Two existing commercial fast supply vessels were converted into unmanned surface vessels (USVs) for Overlord testing, which will play a vital role in informing the Navy’s new classes of USVs. US Navy photo.

Several Navy program officials and resource sponsors today outlined how they’ll spend the next couple years giving Congress enough confidence in unmanned...

https://news.usni.org/2020/09/08/navy-pushing-to-maintain-2023-usv-program-of-record-timeline

Navy Autonomy Lab Would Test, Integrate Software Advances to Bring More Capability to Unmanned Fleet

A Knifefish unmanned undersea vehicle (UUV) training model undergoes crane operations aboard the Military Sealift Command expeditionary fast transport vessel USNS Spearhead (T-EPF 1) as part of a training exercise enabling mine countermeasure missions (MCM) from an EPF as a Vessel of Opportunity (VOO). Knifefish is a medium-class mine countermeasure UUV designed for deployment off the littoral combat ship in 2019. US Navy Photo

The Navy is kicking off a pilot program for an autonomy lab that...

https://news.usni.org/2020/07/28/navy-autonomy-lab-would-test-integrate-software-advances-to-bring-more-capability-to-unmanned-fleet

Navy Releases RFP for Medium Unmanned Underwater Vehicle

A Mk 18 Mod 2 Kingfish sits on a rigid-hull inflatable boat operated by an unmanned systems platoon under EOD Mobile Unit 1 out of Naval Station Point Loma, Calif., on Feb. 11, 2019. USNI News photo.

The Navy this week released a request for proposals for a Medium Unmanned Underwater Vehicle (MUUV) that is meant to streamline two existing unmanned systems into a single open architecture UUV.

The RFP is for the design, development, test, and production of the MUUV, and the Navy notes it may award...

https://news.usni.org/2020/05/22/navy-releases-rfp-for-medium-unmanned-underwater-vehicle

Navy EOD Technology Evolving as 2 UUV Programs Prepare to Merge

Operations Specialist First Class Sean McNamara launches the Mk 18 Mod 2 Kingfish for an initial underwater survey of Sweeper Cove on Adak Island in the Alaska’s Aleutian chain. EODMU 1 is providing expeditionary mine countermeasures support in support of Arctic Expeditionary Capabilities Exercise 2019. EODMU 1 provides operational EOD capabilities to include locating, identifying, rendering safe, exploiting, recovering, and disposing of all explosive ordnance. US Navy photo.

SAN DIEGO, Calif. –...

https://news.usni.org/2020/03/19/navy-eod-technology-evolving-as-2-uuv-programs-prepare-to-merge

Navy Issues Draft Request for Proposal for Large Unmanned Surface Vehicle

A Naval Sea Systems Command-developed Iraqi 60-meter Offshore Support Vessel. US Navy briefing material indicate that early versions of the service’s large unmanned surface vessels could be based on OSV designs. US Navy Photo

The Navy has put a call out to industry to send in ideas for its planned fleet of corvette-sized unmanned surface vehicles, according to a draft request for proposal announced on Wednesday.

The draft RFP for the Large Unmanned Surface Vehicle program starts the work of...

https://news.usni.org/2019/08/14/navy-issues-draft-request-for-proposal-for-large-unmanned-surface-vehicle

Navy Planning Aggressive Unmanned Ship Prototyping, Acquisition Effort

Medium Displacement Unmanned Surface Vehicle (MDUSV) prototype Sea Hunter pulls into Joint Base Pearl Harbor-Hickam, Hawaii on Oct. 31, 2018. US Navy Photo

NATIONAL HARBOR, Md. – The Navy has tightly coupled early prototyping efforts and future acquisition efforts for medium and large unmanned surface vehicles, to speed up the time it will take to experiment with the vessels and get them fielded to fleet commanders, the program manager said last week.

The Navy recently accelerated its timelines...

https://news.usni.org/2019/05/15/navy-planning-aggressive-unmanned-ship-prototyping-acquisition-effort