Boeing delivers Navy’s first Orca XLUUV

Navy describes the Orca XLUUV as “a cutting-edge, autonomous, unmanned diesel-electric submarine with a modular payload section to execute a variety of missions critical to enhancing the Navy’s undersea prowess." [Image: Boeing}

The Navy’s plans for unmanned vessels include uncrewed undersea as well as uncrewed surface vessels and Boeing [NYSE: BA] has now delivered the first Orca Extra Large Uncrewed Undersea Vehicle (XLUUV) to the Navy following completion of acceptance testing month. The XLUUV, designated by the Navy as “Orca,” is a new class of autonomous submarine that can perform long duration critical missions to achieve undersea maritime dominance in changing environments and contested waters.

“This is the culmination of more than a decade of pioneering work, developing a long-range, fully autonomous undersea vehicle with a large payload capacity that can operate completely independently of a host vehicle,” said Ann Stevens, Boeing Maritime and Intelligence Systems vice president. “I’ve had the distinct pleasure of witnessing our team bring this first-of-its-kind capability to life, and I’m proud of their innovation, perseverance and unwavering commitment which has yielded the most advanced and capable UUV in the world. With the Navy’s partnership, we look forward to continuing to deliver this game-changing vehicle to the fleet.”

According to a just-published Congressional Research Service (CRS)report, Navy Large Unmanned Surface and Undersea Vehicles: Background and Issues for Congress, “XLUUVs are roughly the size of a subway car. The Navy wants to use XLUUVs to, among other things, covertly deploy the Hammerhead mine, a planned mine that would be tethered to the seabed and armed with an antisubmarine torpedo, broadly similar to the Navy’s Cold War-era CAPTOR (encapsulated torpedo) mine.”

The Navy describes the Orca XLUUV as “a cutting-edge, autonomous, unmanned diesel-electric submarine with a modular payload section to execute a variety of missions critical to enhancing the Navy’s undersea prowess. Configured to accommodate various payloads, the Orca XLUUV allows for the seamless integration of sensors, communication systems, and other mission-specific components, adapting to the evolving requirements of naval operations.”

With its long-endurance capability, the Orca XLUUV can operate autonomously for extended periods. This allows for sustained operational presence and increased mission effectiveness in challenging undersea environments.

The delivery of the first-ever Orca XLUUV is the culmination of nearly a decade’s worth of research, design, manufacturing and testing by the Program Executive Office for Unmanned and Small Combatants (PEO USC) and the Unmanned Maritime Systems Program Office (PMS 406).

“This has been a very busy year for the XLUUV team and their hard work is culminating in delivery of the Navy’s first-ever unmanned diesel-electric submarine,” said Capt. Scot Searles, program manager of the Unmanned Maritime Systems (PMS 406) program office. “We look forward to continued success with our Boeing teammates in fielding this important capability for the warfighter.”

The Navy designates this first Orca XLUUV as XLE0 and says it began in-water testing in Spring 2023 in Huntington Beach, Calif. Lessons learned from XLE0’s testing will be applied to Orca XLUUV 1 through 5, which will be built and delivered to the Navy in the future.