US defence technology companies Raytheon and Composite Energy Technologies (CET) have successfully demonstrated the undersea launch capabilities of a new, low-cost, long-endurance unmanned undersea vehicle (UUV).
During a recent US Navy exercise, the UUV completed a series of at-sea missions on a navy undersea test range, successfully demonstrating its undersea launch capabilities while submerged. Raytheon parent company RTX said this marked the first time the US Navy has seen this integrated capability in the water.
"This demonstration is an important step in a broader roadmap to deliver autonomous, end‑to‑end undersea capabilities that are far less detectable than surface platforms," said Jen Gauthier, Vice President of Naval Systems and Sustainment at Raytheon. "By tightly coupling design, integration and at‑sea experimentation, we've proven we can bring new autonomous solutions to the fleet quickly and cost‑effectively."
The 34-foot (10-metre) UUV has a six‑foot (1.8-metre) cross section and more than 2,000 nautical miles of endurance. RTX said its free‑flooded, all‑carbon‑fibre exoskeleton delivers exceptional strength and payload capacity while enabling a significantly lower‑cost architecture.
The UUV was also designed to cost roughly one‑third to one‑fifth of comparable long‑endurance vehicles.
RTX added that in less than 18 months, Raytheon and CET progressed from a conceptual sketch to a complete prototype successfully demonstrated in water. This was driven by investment from both companies in the design and build of the vehicle, integration of the launcher, sonar and electronics and full system testing leading up to the exercise.