US Defence Department seeking industry proposals for commercially available UUVs

The US Department of Defense, through the Defense Innovation Unit (DIU), is seeking commercially available, demonstration-ready uncrewed systems that offer a scalable and cost-effective solution for long-range, high-capacity payload deployment.

To maximise operational effectiveness in contested environments, the United States military requires enhanced capabilities for deploying large payloads across extended ranges. Current unmanned underwater vehicle (UUV) capabilities present limitations in range and payload capacity, hindering the effective deployment of critical resources in certain operational scenarios.

Desired mission sets include, but are not limited to: emplacement of various sized payloads; bathymetric surveys and mapping; intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance; communications across the air/water interface (acoustic and radio frequency); and the ability to operate in a GPS denied environment.

A candidate platform should have some or all of the following characteristics: capable of transits greater than 1,000 nautical miles; capable of performing deeper than 200 metres underwater; modular payload capacity with the ability to drop various payloads to the seafloor; and the ability to be operated either autonomously or remotely.

The government may provide various payloads as government furnished equipment (GFE). The government may also provide a suite of GFE and government furnished information (GFI) that vendors are not required to use, but can leverage for their solutions.

The government understands that companies will likely not be able to meet all of the specifications in this solicitation, but encourage companies with demonstrable capability applicable to one or more of these specifications to apply.

Responses to the DIU's commercial solutions opening process are due by 23:59 US Eastern Standard Time on May 1, 2025.