After lawmaker prodding, Navy scanning market for possible 'Snakehead' UUVs - Breaking Defense

The Navy has published a request to industry seeking information on potential undersea drones similar to the parameters of its Large Diameter Unmanned Undersea Vehicle, following congressional prodding over the service’s attempt to cancel the program.

The solicitation, published June 30, states the service is interested in “commercially available LDUUV solutions, as well as the cost drivers and the timeframe required to field and deploy those unmanned vehicles.” The Navy anticipates any UUV it might buy would require some “government-specific modifications” and is interested in rapidly deploying such vehicles as quickly as next year, the notice adds.

Lawmakers in the Fiscal Year 2023 National Defense Authorization Act included a provision directing the Navy to do this market research following its abrupt decision to defund the LDUUV program, also dubbed Snakehead, in its budget request. The service said engineering issues preventing it from deploying the UUV from a submarine prompted the cancellation.