Serco Inc. has won the Autonomy and Vehicle Control Systems Testing and Evaluations contract to support the Naval Surface Warfare Center Carderock Division’s Naval Architecture and Engineering Department.
Under this new program, Serco will help the Navy with the development and testing of autonomous driving for unmanned surface vessels. This new 3-year contract is valued at approximately $68 million.
“We are honored to further our work supporting the US Navy in the autonomous and unmanned vessel space,” said Serco CEO Tom Watson. “These new ships will carry out important missions, improve operational efficiency, and most notably protect the lives and safety of our sailors.”
Under the contract, Serco will deliver services and products in support of autonomy and vessel control systems including systems integration, configuration management and software development of autonomous systems.
Serco will also provide services for the testing and evaluation of unmanned maritime systems for future deployment into fleet operations.
The NSWCCD’s Naval Architecture and Engineering Department (Code 80) is the Navy’s lead organization for research, engineering and design of surface ships, submarines, combatant craft and unmanned systems. Code 8’s mission is to provide the Navy with the world’s best naval architecture and engineering capabilities.
Serco provides similar support for unmanned systems to Naval Surface Warfare Center Panama City Division, Naval Oceanographic Office, Naval Information Warfare Center Pacific and Naval Undersea Warfare Center Newport.