Leidos has won a potential $358.5 million U.S. Navy contract to build a medium-size unmanned undersea vehicle.
This MUUV will be designed for mine countermeasures and data collection operations. The initial request for proposals in May 2020 said the contract will support the next generation of the Program Executive Office Unmanned and Small Combatants Unmanned Maritime Systems Program Office, the Razorback Unmanned Underwater Vehicle and the Naval Sea Systems Command Expeditionary Missions Program Office, Maritime Expeditionary Mine Countermeasures UUV system.
The end product intends to be a modular, open system with an open architecture UUV. The contract includes the development of the Razorback Torpedo Tube Launch & Recovery configuration, which will provide submarine-based autonomous oceanographic sensing and data collection for intelligence preparation. The MEMUUV configuration will have persistent surface-launched and -recovered mine countermeasures.
It was reported that four companies submitted offers to the Naval Sea Systems Command for the project, and the agency committed $12 million to cover design services during the 1-year base period of performance.