Small and Medium Unmanned Undersea Vehicles

Small/Medium Unmanned Undersea Vehicles under the Navy's Research, Development, Test & Evaluation budget activity, aims to develop and field small and medium unmanned undersea vehicles (UUVs) to support various Navy operations. The program includes the development of UUVs for use by the Navy Explosive Ordnance Disposal (EOD), Naval Special Warfare (NSW), Submarine UUV Squadron (UUVRON), the Naval Oceanographic Community (NMOC), and United States Marine Corps operators. Additionally, it supports the development of expeditionary unmanned underwater systems to aid Navy Expeditionary forces in EOD, Mobile Diving and Salvage, Underwater Construction Teams (UCT), Very Shallow Water (VSW), and Expeditionary Mine Countermeasures (ExMCM) mission operations. The program directly aligns with the Department of the Navy Unmanned Campaign Framework and Maritime Expeditionary MCM UUV requirements.

In FY24, the program will continue its focus on developing advanced technologies to enhance warfighters' ability to detect, classify, and localize high-priority threats in mine and undersea warfare missions. This includes investments in Artificial Intelligence and Machine Learning technologies, as well as improvements in Automated Target Recognition algorithms, autonomy architecture, and sensor performance. The program also involves the development of advanced medium class UUVs such as Knifefish for clandestine mine detection capability against volume, bottom, and buried mines. Additionally, it includes the development of medium class UUVs like Razorback and MEDUSA for ocean sensing, data collection, intelligence preparation of the operational environment (IPOE) mission, and offensive mining capabilities deployed from submarines.

Overall, this budget line item aims to advance UUV technology to support critical Navy operations such as mine countermeasures, intelligence gathering, and maritime homeland defense while aligning with the Department of the Navy's strategic frameworks and campaign plans.