The U.S. Navy and the Pentagon’s Defense Innovation Unit chose Anduril to participate in the Combat Autonomous Maritime Platform Project, or CAMP program, to develop an extra-large unmanned underwater vessel.
The Pentagon announced the CAMP program last April with the release of a solicitation calling for a new class of XL-AUV, or extra large underwater vehicle.
The solicitation called for a large underwater vessel that could maneuver in GPS-denied environments, dive over roughly 656 feet (200 meters) deep and drop “various payloads to the sea floor.” It specified that the vessel had to stay underwater for prolonged periods and be able to be transported and recovered easily by commercially available freight and logistics equipment.
Anduril was chosen for the CAMP program after wrapping the longest-ever XL-AUV demonstration, per a company statement. It will conduct an extended demonstration of its Dive-XL platform within four months of contract award.
“The subsea domain currently is patrolled and serviced by a very small number of exquisite capabilities,” Dr. Shane Arnott, senior vice president of Anduril’s maritime division, told reporters at a March 11 roundtable. “The Pacific and also the High North, which is the new fight that’s starting around the Arctic, are water-based fights. So it’s a no-brainer that robots are needed to supplement the crewed systems.”
The Dive-XL meets many of the desired features noted in the original CAMP solicitation. The vehicle is propelled by an all-electric powertrain that allows it to speed through the depths without needing to break the surface and can travel in excess of 2,000 nautical miles.
It has a highly flexible design that be modified for different mission types, including reconnaissance, and can carry up to three payload modules at once. These loads can include smaller unmanned underwater vehicles, effectively making the Dive-XL an type of mothership for even smaller drones that can conduct surveillance or strike underwater.
Additionally, the Dive-XL platform fits into commercial freight containers and can be transported via train or trucks, which corresponds to the Navy’s demand for a modular, easy-to-use system.
Anduril’s selection for the project follows its formal adoption last September by the Royal Australian Navy to deliver a fleet of AI unmanned submarine called Ghost Sharks within the next three years.
Zita Ballinger Fletcher previously served as editor of Military History Quarterly and Vietnam magazines and as the historian of the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration. She holds an M.A. with distinction in military history.
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