Tag Archives: unmanned undersea vehicle

SSNs and yellow drone submarines, coming to an ocean near you

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Of course, they won’t be yellow when they get operational, but the Navy quietly marked a milestone in undersea warfare: the successful forward-deployed launch and recovery of the HHI Yellow Moray uncrewed underwater vehicle, a variant of the company’s REMUS 600 series UUV, from the USS Delaware (SSN 791), a Block III Virginia-class submarine. In a further note, Delaware was the first American warship commissioned while underwater, making her the ideal historical testbed for such devices.

250501-N-N0736-1001 NORFOLK (May 01, 2025) – Sailors attached to the Virginia-class fast-attack submarine USS Delaware (SSN 791) lower a Yellow Moray (REMUS 600) unmanned underwater vehicle (UUV) into the water during a UUV exercise in Haakosnsvern Naval Base in Haakonsvern, Norway, and then swim it to the sub. (Courtesy Photo)

Via DOD:

The Yellow Moray UUV executed a pre-programmed mission profile showcasing the potential to greatly enhance the Navy’s subsea and seabed warfare (SSW) capabilities. The successful completion of this mission demonstrates the feasibility of deploying robotic and autonomous systems from submarines, opening new possibilities for clandestine operations and battlespace preparation. As part of this operation, Delaware executed three Yellow Moray UUV sorties of about 6-10 hours each using the same vehicle, validating the reliability of the system and the ability to execute multiple missions without the need for divers to launch and recover the vehicle.

But wait, there is more:

This deployment also highlighted the ability of the Submarine Force and UUV Group 1 to learn fast and overcome barriers. During the first attempts to launch and recover in a Norwegian Fjord in February, the vehicle failed to recover to the torpedo tube after multiple attempts. After recovering the UUV to a surface support vessel, technicians discovered damage to a critical part. To avoid impacts to the ship’s deployment schedule and operations, the Submarine Force (SUBFOR) shipped the UUV back to the U.S. and replaced the failed component. Knowing there was another opportunity to operate the system later in the deployment, SUBFOR returned the UUV to the theater where Delaware completed an expeditionary reload, and multiple successful UUV torpedo tube launch and recovery operations. As part of the expeditionary load, the team also executed a first-ever pierside diver torpedo tube load of the UUV in Norway, providing the operational commander with flexible options.

While the Yellow Moray itself doesn’t have much information, check out this backgrounder on the REMUS 620, its developmental “daddy”:

An interesting look inside UUVRON 1

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Last fall the U.S. Navy established its first-ever unmanned undersea vehicle squadron, UUVRON 1, at NUWC Keyport, Washington. Unmanned Undersea Vehicle Squadron One’s mission is to develop the tactics, techniques, and procedures that will shape how the Navy uses UUVs in the future. It is part of the secret squirrels of Submarine Development Squadron 5, which is the operational command that oversees the trio of special mission-oriented Seawolf-class nuclear-powered fast attack submarines USS Seawolf, Connecticut and Jimmy Carter.

Equipped with a wide array of assets, the 35-strong unit deployed a detachment to Argentina last year in the search for the lost submarine ARA San Juan that included a Blue Fin UUV and 6 Sailors.

“We’ll use UUVs in those areas that are too dangerous to put a manned vessel, and on the other side, we’ll use UUVs where it’s just too mundane for a long-term mission to keep a sailor out there,” CDR Scott Smith told the Kitsap Sun. “Those are really the two places I see UUVs working, but we’ll never replace the manned systems. In my mind, we’ll always need submarines out there doing what submarines do.”

More here.

Ingalls making progress on their new SDV

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Swimmer Deliver Vehicles (SDVs) are the unsung heroes of littoral covert naval action. Its that “covert” part that keeps them that way. News of them rarely eeks out and when it does its normally bad as most of the “good” stuff is classified.

Well about that.

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HII recently put out a presser on their prototype Proteus dual-mode underwater vehicle (DMUV). That’s a submersible able to operate as a conventional manned swimmer delivery vehicle (SDV) and as an unmanned undersea vehicle (UUV), which gives the warfighter a bunch of neato options that the old X-boat and Chariot drivers of WWII would have loved.

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The news is that two females, Chloe Mallet, an ocean engineer, and Andrea Raff, a mechanical engineer, have now been certed to drive Proteus.

 

20150602_134425+(2)_bc3ce9e7-c172-4566-af48-ca1e4a06c9ce-prvMallet and Raff are the only two women on the seven-person dive team that works with Proteus.

When in use in the manned mode, the vehicle is flooded with water and can submerge to depths up to 150 feet, weighs 8,240 pounds, is 25.8 feet long (the Navy’s DSS has an inside dimension of 26 feet) can carry almost 2-tons of cargo and uses a 300kHz Multi-Beam Sonar to keep her steady and away from undersea collisions while traveling at 10 knots.

So if you are around Panama City where all the small boat secret squirrels live, and see a 25.8 foot whale in the water, now you know.
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