Navy Seeks Info on Commercial Large Diameter Unmanned Undersea Vehicles

The U.S. Navy has issued a sources sought notice seeking information on commercially available large diameter unmanned undersea vehicles that could be deployed as early as fiscal year 2024, Breaking Defense reported Wednesday.

The service’s move seeks to comply with the fiscal year 2023 National Defense Authorization Act, which directs the Navy to perform analysis and experimentation activities in support of unmanned operations, according to the notice published Friday.

According to the publication, lawmakers included the market research provision in the NDAA after the Navy decided to cancel the LDUUV program, also called Snakehead, citing engineering concerns that could keep it from fielding the underwater drone from a submarine.

Naval Sea Systems Command wants information on the LDUUV’s launch and recovery requirements, technology readiness level, performance, payload capabilities, operations and use of onboard sensors and signature and detection systems, among others, according to the notice.

Booz Allen Hamilton (NYSE: BAH) and the Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory may assist the service in the assessment of responses received through the notice.

Responses are due July 31.

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