Johns Hopkins APL Wins $48 Million Navy Undersea Security Program Contract

The Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory has received a $47.7 million Navy contract to research technological and operational vulnerabilities affecting submarines and other assets used in subsea and seabed warfare. The work supports the Undersea Security Program managed by Strategic Systems Programs and is expected to run through Oct. 20, 2031.

Undersea Security Program Details

APL will provide research and development support investigating how present and future vulnerabilities could affect undersea assets. The award covers both technological and operational issues, placing the laboratory’s work in the program’s effort to assess the security of submarines and other systems operating below the surface or on the seabed.

The Navy’s broader Undersea Security Program research agenda addresses survivability, signatures and sensors, and the effects of emerging technologies on submarine operations. It identifies acoustic, chemical, optical, electromagnetic, radiological, hydrodynamic and cyber signatures as areas for study, alongside modeling, simulation and operational analysis. The contract notice does not assign those individual research topics to APL. Eighty percent of the contract work will take place in Laurel, Maryland, and 20% in Washington, D.C.

Undersea Security Program Background

The Undersea Security Program spans Strategic Systems Programs, the SSBN Security Technology Program, the SSN/SSGN Security Program and the Subsea and Seabed Warfare Security Program. The Navy uses recurring research announcements to pursue studies and assessments across those areas, including work intended to inform future submarine planning and undersea investment decisions. APL’s award is for research support within that broader effort, rather than production of a submarine or other platform.

Award and Contractor Background

The Navy awarded the hybrid cost-plus-fixed-fee and cost-no-fee contract through full and open competition under a broad agency announcement. Strategic Systems Programs has refreshed the Undersea Security Program announcement annually since its initial issuance in 2023, providing a continuing route for competitive research awards. The award notice is from the Navy’s Portfolio Acquisition Executive Strategic Systems Programs in Washington, D.C.

This award was disclosed by the DoW in its daily press release. Additional contract details will be available on HigherGov in approximately 90 days under N0003027C3002 after the contract is formally disclosed by the government.