Small/Medium Unmanned Undersea Vehicles

The FY 2026 budget for PU1036 / TETRA program included $0 of discretionary funding and $32,000k of mandatory funding for a total of $32,000K. The mandatory funds supported the development of Lanternfish - a deep Remotely Operated Vehicle (ROV) supporting Subsea Seabed Warfare (SSW) mission areas. Funding also supports the continuation of the TETRA ROV. TETRA funding supports additional payload design and integration, as well as supporting documentation for platform integration. Bootstrap funding was allocated for system improvement and continued testing. (U) The TETRA program is a continuation of efforts, realigned from Program Element (PE) 0604029N (UUV Core Technologies) Project Unit (PU) 4053 (UxS Platform) to PE 0604028N (Small/Medium Unmanned Undersea Vehicles) PU 1036 (TETRA) in FY25, and also includes payload development addressing emergent operational requirements. The large increase in FY27 is due to increased Fleet requirements for the systems. (U) This is the sole project unit that enables deployment of TETRA, which is an operationally relevant Remotely Operated Vehicle (ROV) that is launched, and recovered, from submarine torpedo tubes. TETRA is a ROV with the capacity for multiple mission payloads as a key enabler to Subsea Seabed Warfare (SSW) to locate, identify, and provide real-time payload employment to effect objects of interest as identified in the SSW Initial Capabilities Document (ICD). As a tethered system, TETRA will provide real-time operational data back to the platform and enable man-in-the-loop intervention to maximize the efficiency of a sortie. Experimentations will be conducted with Unmanned Undersea Vehicle Squadron One (UUVRON ONE), Special Reconnaissance Team - 2 (SRT 2), and Naval Special Warfare Group 8 (NSWG 8) utilizing government test events, lake testing, and barge tests to provide Fleet and acquisition stakeholders with relevant payload and vehicle employment to inform Concept of Operations (CONOP) and fielding decisions using platforms of opportunity. (U) This project line is utilized for the development, and integration, of payloads into the TETRA ROV. Funding is also required to begin integration into Submarine Warfare Federated Tactical System (SWFTS) to reduce TETRA's stowage footprint.

A part of the Family of UUVs, Razorback is a medium class UUV capable of persistent, autonomous, ocean sensing and data collection in support of Navy Subsea and Seabed Warfare (SSW) including Intelligence Preparation of the Operational Environment (IPOE) missions. The Razorback MK19 procurement began in FY 2017 and Fleet operational deployments began in FY 2021. Conversion to a torpedo tube launch and recovery (TTL&R) variant began in FY23. The development of formalized training products begin in FY 2026. Development efforts for the Next Generation variant of MK19 will begin in FY26 through a partnership with the Defense Innovation Unit (DIU). In order to deploy Razorback or other small or medium class UUVs from a host submarine platform with sufficient endurance to perform a desired mission, high energy density sources such as lithium-ion batteries are used. Consequently, safety is paramount and mitigation systems must be in place to prevent or stop a high energy casualty event. Shock and Fire Enclosure Capsule (SAFECAP) is being developed as an active mitigation strategy that includes a shock qualified capsule that aides in the launch and recovery of small and medium sized UUVs through the torpedo tube, including Razorback. SAFECAP effort was transferred from PE0604028N PU3785 to PE0604029 PU4053 in FY 2025. The FY 2026 budget for Razorback program included $0 of discretionary funding and $25,000,000 FY25 mandatory funding for a total of $25,000,000. The mandatory funds supported acquisition of two prototype next generation MK19 vehicles, technical analysis for integrating several capabilities into the prototype design, platform integration, PPR battery integration into MK19 Mod 1 baseline, IPOE payload development, west coast training readiness, and test and evaluation for MK19 mod 1 and next generation variants. The FY 2027 request for Razorback program includes $10,257,000 of discretionary funding and $0 mandatory funding for a total of $10,719,000. Further information for this reconciliation request will be provided in the Reconciliation Exhibit.

As part of the Expeditionary UUV Family of Systems (FoS) the LIONFISH UUV Program of Record develops advanced SUUVs to support myriad missions across warfare domains. The missions include; expeditionary mine countermeasures, expeditionary data collection and surveillance, and intelligence preparation of the environment (IPOE). Equipment includes vehicles and associated systems support equipment. Planned block upgrades include increased detection range capability, communications upgrades, automated target recognition, cybersecurity, autonomy and command and control improvements, additional launch and recovery abilities, increased operational depth, and payloads as required. FY2027 supports planned improvements for the vehicles now in full rate production, to include RDTE for advanced sensor packages, software development/ integration, automatic target recognition, and usability upgrades.

MEDUSA is a medium class UUV capable of offensive mining capabilities deployed from a submarine. MEDUSA features torpedo tube launch capability, long range, high payload placement accuracy, and can support heavy payloads. A demonstration system was developed and tested in FY21 with dummy payloads using a land-based launch facility and surface launched in-water demonstrations. Lessons learned from the demonstration informed a program start in FY 2022 and competitive award to Industry in FY 2024. System design is in process with completion in FY2026. The FY 2026 budget for the MEDUSA program included $0 discretionary funding and $82,440,000 of FY25 mandatory funding for a total of $82,440,000. The mandatory funds supported the completion of prototype design, prototype procurement, Submarine integration and acquisition support. Further information for this reconciliation request will be provided in the Reconciliation Exhibit. FY2027 zero's funding for continued MEDUSA development and procurements. FY25 mandatory funding will be utilized to complete design and transition MEDUSA technologies.

As part of the UUV Family of Systems (FoS) and in support of the Mine Countermeasures (MCM) Mission Package (MP), the Surface Mine Countermeasures Unmanned Undersea Vehicle (SMCM UUV) Program, also referred to as Knifefish, develops advanced medium class UUVs to support clandestine mine detection capability against volume, bottom, and buried mines, in high clutter environments. Equipment includes UUVs and associated system support equipment. The program achieved Milestone C in FY 2019 and entered into Low-Rate Initial Production (LRIP) for five (5) Block 0 systems in FY 2019. The prime contractor for Knifefish is General Dynamics Mission Systems (GDMS) located in Quincy, MA. In FY 2021, GDMS was awarded a contract to retrofit the LRIP systems with Block 1 capabilities and upgrade a number of performance characteristics to meet Navy bottom and buried mine hunting requirements. The Navy will conduct a limited validation of these capabilities during system acceptance testing and sell off to the government in Q1-Q3FY24. Upon delivery of these systems to the Navy, they will be available for limited Fleet operations from LCS or Vessels of Opportunity (VOO).

Funding supported the development of unmanned systems for the Navy's expeditionary unmanned underwater Explosive Ordnance Disposal (EOD) and Mine Countermeasures (MCM) capability. Specifically, it provided for development of expeditionary, unmanned underwater systems to support Navy Expeditionary forces including EOD, Mobile Diving and Salvage, Underwater Construction Teams (UCT), Very Shallow Water (VSW), and Expeditionary Mine Countermeasures (ExMCM) mission operations. The equipment was required to be highly portable in order to support the Navy EOD technician to safely approach, render safe, recover, exploit, and dispose of underwater explosive threats to include sea mines, limpet mines, and unexploded ordnance. Provided support for the Navy's high priority missions of Maritime Homeland Defense and MCM, including reconnaissance and mine clearance in support of amphibious operations. Development of Expeditionary UUV systems supported localization render-safe and detailed intelligence gathering of unexploded ordnance (UXO) including Underwater Improvised Explosive Devices (IEDs). This project directly supported the requirements defined by the Maritime Expeditionary MCM UUV (MEMUUV) CDD. Viperfish UUV is an incremental increase in capability from MK 18 MOD 2. It will leverage volume and bottom mine hunting capabilities, increase endurance from the Mod 2 system, increased depth capability, and will have embedded automated target recognition (ATR).