Page 14 - ADT NOVEMBER - DECEMBER 2022 Online Magazine

MORE ON THE NAVY WISH-LIST

The Navy wants to develop and procure three types of large,
unmanned vehicles (UVs) called Large Unmanned Surface Vehicles
(LUSVs), Medium Unmanned Surface Vehicles (MUSVs), and Extra-
Large Unmanned Undersea Vehicles (XLUUVs). The Navy’s proposed
FY2023 budget requests US$549.3 million in research and devel-
opment funding for these large UVs and LUSV/MUSV-enabling
technologies, and US$60.7 million in additional funding for core
technologies for XLUUV and other Navy UUVs.

The Navy wants to acquire these large UVs as part of an effort to shift
the Navy to a more distributed fleet architecture, meaning a mix of
ships that spreads the Navy’s capabilities over an increased number
of platforms and avoids concentrating a large portion of the fleet’s
overall capability into a relatively small number of high-value ships.

The Navy and the Department of Defense (DOD) have been working
since 2019 to develop a new Navy force-level goal reflecting this new
fleet mix. The Navy’s FY2023 30-year (FY2023-FY2052) shipbuilding
plan, released on April 20, 2022, includes a table summarizing the
results of studies that have been conducted on the new force-level
goal. These studies outline potential future fleets with 27 to 153 large
USVs and 18 to 51 large UUVs.

The Navy envisions LUSVs as being 200 feet to 300 feet in length
and having full load displacements of 1,000 tons to 2,000 tons,
which would make them the size of a corvette. According to a
Congressional Research Service report, the Navy wants LUSVs to be
low-cost, high-endurance, reconfigurable ships with ample capacity
for carrying various modular payloads—particularly anti-surface
warfare (ASuW) and strike payloads, meaning principally anti-ship
and land-attack missiles.

Each LUSV could be equipped with a vertical launch system (VLS)
with 16 to 32 missile-launching tubes. Although referred to as UVs,
LUSVs might be more accurately described as optionally or lightly
© Business Wire manned ships, because they might sometimes have a few onboard
crew members, particularly in the nearer term as the Navy works
environments. “The MUSV programme award out LUSV enabling technologies and operational concepts. Under
reinforces our investments in the unmanned the Navy’s FY2023 five-year (FY2023-FY2027) shipbuilding plan,
market and demonstrates our ongoing com- procurement of LUSVs through the Navy’s shipbuilding account is
mitment to bring mission-critical capabilities to programmed to begin in FY2025.
our warfighters,” said Sean Stackley, President,
Integrated Mission Systems, L3Harris. “L3Harris LUSV PROGRAMME
is continuing to develop a full range of highly
reliable and affordable autonomous maritime In 2020, the Navy first awarded HII, Lockheed Martin, Fincantieri
capabilities to enable distributed maritime Marinette Marine, Bollinger Shipyards Lockport LLCS, Austal USA,
operations in support of the National Defense Gibbs & Cox Inc. firm-fixed price contracts with individual awards
Strategy.” worth about US$7 million each for initial work on the Large Unmanned
Surface Vessel (LUSV) studies.
L3Harris will be the systems integrator and
provide the mission autonomy and perception Lockheed Martin is providing the study for a proven, integrated and
technology as the prime contractor on the pro- capable payload ship, able to patrol for extended durations, as part
gram. The program team includes Gibbs & Cox of the U.S. Navy’s LUSV competition. Lockheed Martin is partnering
and Incat Crowther who will provide the ship with Portland-based Vigor Works, LLC as the team’s shipbuilder. As
design and Swiftships will complete the con- prime contractor, Lockheed Martin will manage the program, deliver
struction of the vehicle. platform integration, systems engineering, combat management,
automation and cyber solutions.
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