Large unmanned undersea vehicle gets first water trial for U.S. Navy
NewsMay 11, 2022
HUNTINGTON BEACH, Calif. The U.S. Navy recently conducted the initial in-water test of the Orca Extra Large Unmanned Undersea Vehicle (XLUUV) Test Asset System off Huntington Beach, California.
According to information from the U.S. Department of Defense (DoD), the Orca XLUUV -- built by Boeing -- is intended to be an open architecture, reconfigurable unmanned underwater vechicle that has at its core tools for sailors to maintain guidance and control, navigation, autonomy, situational awareness, core communications, power distribution, energy and power, propulsion and maneuvering, and mission sensors.
This tested vehicle is the first of four that Boeing agreed to build for the Navy back in 2019, when the company won a $43 million contract for fabrication and delivery of the vessels.