Leidos to manage US Navy uncrewed surface vessels under $95 million deal
USV Sea Hunter will be one of five USVs managed and maintained by Leidos under a new contract. (Photo: USN)
Leidos has won a $95 million contract from the USN to manage and maintain the Overlord and Medium USVs, an effort which will accelerate the integration of autonomous vessel capabilities.
Under the deal Leidos will manage, operate and maintain the USN’s Overlord and medium USVs with a one-year base period of performance and two one-year options. The task order has a maximum value of approximately $95 million if all options are exercised.
The Overlord USV’s are USV Nomad, USV Mariner and USV Ranger and the medium USVs are USV Seahawk and USV Sea Hunter. All but USV Nomad were delivered by Leidos.
Dave Lewis, Leidos Defence Group senior VP and maritime systems operations manager said: ‘This task order starts an important phase in the navy’s evolution of USVs and integrating them into distributed maritime operations.’
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In January 2019 USV Sea Hunter successfully autonomously navigated from San Diego to Pearl Harbor, Hawaii, and back. The ship navigated without crew on board, except for very short duration boardings by personnel from an escort vessel to check electrical and propulsion systems.
In April 2021 USV Seahawk was delivered to the USN Surface Development Squadron One (SURFDEVRON) in San Diego, California. It was built under a $35.5 million contract awarded by the Office of Naval Research in December 2017.
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