LUSV research continues with contracts for six companies
Austal USA, Bollinger Shipyards Lockport, Gibbs & Cox, Huntington Ingalls, Lockheed Martin and Marinette Marine have been awarded contracts, worth a combined total of $41 million, to conduct research into large USVs (LUSVs).
Each of these six US companies could also take up an engineering support option which would raise the overall value to $59 million.
The USN issued an RfP for its first block of LUSVs in September 2019, with the intention to begin procurement in 2021.
However, it now wants to see improved specifications and more clearly defined LUSV requirements, after Congress in December 2019 ordered that the acquisition plan be overhauled.
As a result, the six companies are tasked with carrying out reliability studies with possible solutions, before bidding for a detailed design and construction contract.
In its Future Surface Combatant Force, the USN envisages low-cost and durable LUSVs to complement manned surface combatants. It even established a new unit (Surface Development Squadron ONE) in May 2019 to integrate USVs into the broader fleet.
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