US Naval Sea Systems Command (NAVSEA) has hired science and technology company Leidos to design and build a medium-sized unmanned undersea vehicle (UUV) under a contract worth approximately $358 million.
The subsea vehicle will support intelligence preparation of the operational environment by providing submarine-based autonomous oceanographic sensing and data collection for the US Navy.
It will also provide surface-launched and recovered mine countermeasures, Leidos said.
“Our decades of experience fielding unmanned technology coupled with our familiarity with the ever-changing needs of the fleet, enables us to provide this critical capability to our warfighters at speed and scale” , said Mike Rickels , Leidos’ senior vice president of C4ISR Solutions. “We look forward to building upon our long-standing relationship with the Navy and supporting their critical national security mission.”
The company will work with several partners to deliver this technology, including compatriot defence contractor L3Harris Technologies .