Lockheed Martin receives XLUUV design contract
Lockheed Martin has received a $43.2 million design phase contract for the US Navy’s Extra Large Unmanned Undersea Vehicle (XLUUV) programme, the company announced on 30 October.
The programme, which aims to meet increasing demand for undersea operational awareness and payload delivery, has been divided into two phases: the awarded design phase, and a competitive, production phase for up to nine UUVs.
Lockheed Martin's Orca XLUUV will be capable of performing a variety of missions, enabled by a reconfigurable payload bay. The vehicle’s key attributes include extended vehicle range, autonomy and persistence. Orca will be able to transit to an area of operation, loiter, periodically establish communications, deploy payloads, and transit home.
The US Navy personnel would be able to launch, recover, operate, and communicate with the vehicle remotely from a home base.
Frank Drennan, director, submersibles and autonomous systems, Lockheed Martin, said: ‘With each new undersea vehicle that Lockheed Martin designs, we bring to bear the technology and innovative system integration of those technologies, to increase the range, reach, and effectiveness of undersea forces and their missions.’
More from Uncrewed Vehicles
-
Tekever unveils new swarm-controlling UAS
Tekever has manufactured the AR3, AR4 and AR5 UAS with all systems sharing common electronics and software architecture, which has enabled the reuse of ground segment elements within the new ARX UAS.
-
Ready for the race: Air separation drone swarms vs. air defence systems
As the dynamics of aerial combat rapidly evolve, Chinese scientists have engineered a sophisticated air separation drone model that can fragment into up to six drones, each capable of executing distinct battlefield roles and challenging the efficacy of current anti-drone defences such as the UK’s Dragonfire laser system.
-
Israel’s MALE UAVs ‘must adapt’ to Iranian-made air defences
Advancements in air defence technologies have begun to reshape aerial combat dynamics in the Middle East, as illustrated by recent events involving the Israeli Air Force and Hezbollah.
-
Hundreds more UAS sent to Ukraine forces with thousands more on the way
Both sides of the Russia-Ukraine war have been using UAS for effective low-cost attacks, as well as impactful web and social media footage. Thousands more have now been committed to Ukrainian forces.
-
AI and software companies selected for US Army Robotic Combat Vehicle subsystems
The US Army has intentions to develop light, medium and heavy variants of the Robotic Combat Vehicle (RCV) as part of the branche’s Next Generation Combat Vehicle family.