Navy and DIU select three “best in the breed” vendors to advance LDUUV development

Kongsberg, one of vendors selected by DIU, says its Hugin Endurance AUV has a 1,200 nm range.

The Department of Defense’s Defense Innovation Unit (DIU) and the Navy’s Program Office Advanced Undersea Systems (PMS 394) have selected three vendors to prototype and develop Unmanned Underwater Vehicle (UUV) platforms.

The DIU says that undersea warfare is critical to success in the Pacific and other contested environments, providing needed autonomous underwater sensing and payload delivery in dispersed, long-range, deep and contested environments is key. In particular, the U.S. military requires a fleet of Large Displacement Unmanned Underwater Vehicles (LDUUVs) with diverse capabilities.

One of the critical capability areas of the LDUUV effort is the need for long-endurance undersea craft that can deliver payloads and effectors against adversaries for Subsea and Seabed Warfare (SSW) as well as Undersea Warfare (USW) scenarios. To solve this, PMS 394 partnered with the Defense Innovation Unit (DIU) to identify commercial technology that delivers a potentially transformative effect in these maritime scenarios.

Following a rigorous evaluation process, DIU awarded three prototype agreements to Oceaneering International, Kongsberg Discovery, and Anduril Industries. These agreements highlight the importance of improving underwater capabilities, leveraging unmanned systems, and tackling present and future maritime dangers in a cost-effective and scalable manner. The successful prototypes will enable future capabilities in SSW and USW missions. This project will also drive advancements in underwater engineering, autonomous systems, communications, and shape employment of LDUUV for future Naval operations.

“NAVSEA, in partnership with the DIU, has selected the best-in-breed from industry to rapidly advance new undersea capabilities in the Subsea and Seabed Warfare domain,” said Capt. Grady Hill, program manager for PMS 394. “We are accelerating our development plans by utilizing rapid contracting authorities to speed capability to the Fleet.”

Commenting on its selection, Kongsberg Discovery says that the total contract could result in the Navy acquiring its Hugin Endurance and Hugin Superior deep-water AUV systems.

Kongsberg has delivered approximately 100 large Hugin AUV systems globally, with customers including Edison Chouest Offshore’s C-Innovation. Hugin Endurance, one of the newest members in the Hugin AUV family, is the biggest and most capable with a 39-foot length, 47-inch diameter and 15-day endurance, enabling unsupervised shore-to-shore operations over a 1,200 nautical mile range. Hugin Superior, the workhorse of the Hugin AUV family and the deep-water industry standard, is 22 feet long, 35 inches in diameter and a 70-hour endurance.

Both vehicles are integrated with a suite of Kongsberg’s sensors providing IPoE (Intelligence Preparation of the Operational Environment), MCM (Mine Counter Measure), SBW (Seabed Warfare), and seafloor mapping capabilities at delivery. Hugin Endurance expands these capabilities by providing capacity for further payload integration and range. Kongsberg says that its longstanding expertise in inertial navigation, autonomy in both UUVs and USVs, battery development, and the ability to fuse sensor and payload data seamlessly, enhances productivity and cost effectiveness for the operator.

“With Hugin Endurance we are pushing the boundaries for autonomous over-the-horizon AUV operations,” said Martin Wien Fjell, president of Kongsberg Discovery. “We are excited to bring our many years of AUV experience in support of the U.S. Government and look forward to closely partnering with DIU and the U.S. Navy to support making their LDUUV program a reality. Hugin’s reliability has created a legacy and our continued evolution has enabled us to provide the expertise needed on such a program.”