Naval Group to work on design of French unmanned combat underwater vehicle

The French defence procurement agency (DGA) has awarded Naval Group a new contract to study the design of a future Unmanned Combat Underwater Vehicle (UCUV).

The nine-month study will allow Naval Group to examine principal use cases and develop system architectures for a UCUV.

The naval use of unmanned and autonomous military systems is seen as a genuine strategic asset, and is increasingly sought after by navies for their intelligence, surveillance and seabed control missions.

“Naval Group is very proud to support the French Ministry of the Armed Forces in the study of this new unmanned capability, which will help to kick-start the development of highcapacity autonomous systems,” Aurore Neuschwander, Naval Group’s Director of Drones, Autonomous Systems and Underwater Weapons said.

Naval Group has been investing its own funds since 2016 to develop a first demonstrator of a large underwater drone (XL-UUV).

This demonstrator will be qualified at sea in the summer of 2023, which will enable the company to test various technological bricks in a short cycle.

Among the capabilities developed by Naval Group and its partners is the Controlled Decision-Making Autonomy (ADC), designed to be the onboard brain for drones, while offering sailors the ability to supervise all unmanned systems in complete safety, and to plan and carry out complex missions, as a complement to manned ships.

The company expects that the first UCUV project paves the way for additional work to quickly develop the key technological bricks of such a drone, in relation to the development of the first demonstrator.