UK hunts for extra large autonomous underwater vehicle
Concept image of the MSubs developed extra-large uncrewed underwater vehicle (XLUUV). (Photo: MSubs)
The UK RN is increasingly looking to fill roles across its fleet with autonomous or uncrewed capabilities.
The UK’s Submarine Delivery Agency Autonomy Unit has issued a tender worth up to £21.5 million for the procurement and trialling of an 8-12m Extra-Large Autonomous Underwater Vehicle (XL-AUV), dubbed Project CETUS.
The resultant XL-AUV will be used to help the RN de-risk the full procurement of future UUVs.
The RN already owns an MSubs extra-large uncrewed underwater vehicle (XLUUV) which is currently being used to test different payloads through the UK Defence and Security Accelerator’s (DASA’s) ‘Uncrewed Underwater Vehicle Testbed – Opportunity to Integrate’ competition.
The Project CETUS work follows on from XLUUV experimentation and will be the service’s
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