Boeing delivers first Orca UUV to US Navy
Boeing has been building five Orcas for the US Navy. (Photo: Boeing)
Boeing's Orca, a large uncrewed submarine which builds upon the company's work with Echo Voyager, has been designed to provide long-range autonomous operations.
Boeing has delivered the first Orca Extra Large Uncrewed Undersea Vehicle (XLUUV) to the US Navy (USN) following completion of testing earlier this month.
Orca has been described by its manufacturer as a new class of autonomous submarine that can perform long duration critical missions and support naval forces.
Boeing began work on Orca when it started development of Echo Voyager as a proof-of-concept XLUUV and testing of the system began in 2017. Boeing has been building five Orcas for the USN in partnership with Huntington Ingalls Industries.
Related Articles
US Navy’s Orca programme concludes design reviews
Boeing continues DARPA Hunter XLUUV work
Boeing completes Orca large UUV trials and moves to next stage
Echo Voyager, described by Boeing as ‘the world’s only vehicle of its size and capability’, has spent more than 10,000 hours operating at sea, during which time it has transited hundreds of nautical miles autonomously.
Boeing Maritime and Intelligence Systems vice-president Ann Stevens said: ‘This is the culmination of more than a decade of pioneering work, developing a long-range, fully autonomous undersea vehicle with a large payload capacity that can operate completely independently of a host vehicle.’
In August 2023 Boeing announced it had completed the integration of a 10.4m payload section of its Orca built under a DARPA contract and was preparing to go back out to sea for further trials with the payload section. The integrated version is approximately 26m long and weighs more than 73,000kg.
In July 2022, Boeing received an US$8.51 million contract modification from DARPA for Option 3 of the Hunter Phase 2 programme taking the total cumulative face value of the contract to $36.8 million.
Related Equipment in Defence Insight
More from Naval Warfare
-
![Will the US Navy surge production for OTH-WS missile?]()
Will the US Navy surge production for OTH-WS missile?
The USN is conducting a market search seeking additional sources capable of supplying 516 units of Over the Horizon – Weapons System Encanistered Missiles.
-
![How will SAFE shape naval procurement for Canada and its highest-receiving members?]()
How will SAFE shape naval procurement for Canada and its highest-receiving members?
Canada’s inclusion on the EU’s Security Action for Europe initiative is set to enhance the country’s defence procurement strategy with important implications for some of its naval programmes, while Poland and Romania have also secured significant SAFE funding.
-
![Thales wins DE&S contract for portable autonomous command centres]()
Thales wins DE&S contract for portable autonomous command centres
The agreement to provide portable autonomous command centres to the UK Royal Navy will enhance the service’s Mine Counter Measure operations and further integrate autonomous and uncrewed systems into its fleet.
-
![Maritime defence in the Mediterranean faces challenges from vulnerable land power]()
Maritime defence in the Mediterranean faces challenges from vulnerable land power
As an indispensable energy crossroads, the Mediterranean is at serious risk from grey zone disruption. As navies increasingly employ AI data centres, what happens when cutting-edge defence technologies rely on the very infrastructure most susceptible to hybrid tactics?
