Trump Order Fast Tracks Subsea Mining
President Donald Trump signed an executive order aimed at boosting the deep-sea mining industry, marking his latest attempt to boost U.S. access to nickel, copper and other critical minerals used widely across the economy.The order, which Trump signed in private, seeks to jumpstart the mining of both U.S. and international waters as part of a push to offset China's sweeping control of the critical minerals industry.Parts of the Pacific Ocean and elsewhere are estimated to contain large amounts of potato-shaped rocks known as polymetallic nodules filled with the building blocks for electric vehicles
NUWC Division Newport: $2 Billion Impact on Economy in 2024
The total funded program of the Naval Undersea Warfare Center (NUWC) Division Newport reached $2 billion in 2024, according to the recently released economic impact report.Of its total operating budget, $776 million was spent by Division Newport in civilian payroll and labor, materials, operational expenditures, property maintenance and repair, and military payroll, while $1.2 billion funded contracts.One of two divisions of the Naval Undersea Warfare Center, Division Newport has a workforce comprised of 51% government civilian employees, 48% support contractor employees and 0.38% military staff.
Navy Signals Need for New Large AUV Class
The Defense Innovation Unit of the Pentagon has issued a call under the Project Description "CAMP – Combat Autonomous Maritime Platform" for deploying large payloads across extended ranges. According to the solicitaion, "current UUV capabilities present limitations in range and payload capacity, hindering the effective deployment of critical resources in certain operational scenarios.""CAMP" is a project dedicated to the late Richard “Mike” Camp, former Director of Warfare Systems, U.S. Pacific Fleet. Mike Camp was a highly accomplished
Vatn Systems, Palantir Partner to Scale Manufacturing of AUVs for National Defense
Vatn Systems, a leading defense technology company building autonomous underwater vehicles (AUVs) for the US military and allies, announced a strategic partnership with Palantir Technologies to further digitize and scale its manufacturing capabilities."Palantir's technology gives us real-time visibility into our operations, strengthening our ability to anticipate challenges, optimize resources, and deliver critical systems to our customers with unprecedented speed and precision," said Nelson Mills, co-founder and CEO of Vatn Systems.The partnership leverages Palantir's software
Undersea Warfighting Development Center Leadership Visits NUWC Division Newport
A constant co-evolution of technology and operational concepts is critical to providing the best warfighting capabilities possible to the U.S. Navy’s submarine fleet. In support of that mission, the Naval Undersea Warfare Center (NUWC) Division Newport and the Undersea Warfighting Development Center (UWDC) continue to have a strong working relationship.On March 31, the warfare center welcomed UWDC Commander Rear Adm. Michael R. Van Poots and some of the organization’s senior leaders for a full day of tours and discussions. Van Poots was joined by Dennis Boyer, SES, deputy commander; Capt.
HII Delivers Initial Lionfish UUVs to U.S. Navy
HII has delivered the first two Lionfish small uncrewed undersea vehicles (SUUVs) to the U.S. Navy under a program that could scale to 200 vehicles, with a contract value exceeding $347 million.Lionfish is based on HII’s REMUS 300 platform, a modular, open-architecture SUUV engineered for multi-mission adaptability and the program was developed in collaboration with the U.S. Navy and Defense Innovation Unit (DIU), to accelerate the adoption of dual-use commercial technologies into U.S. Department of Defense programs.The Lionfish SUUV is a cyber-compliant uncrewed underwater vehicle.HII was
DoD Looks for Advance Underwater Communication Solutions
The US Department of Defense (DoD) has announced funding opportunities as part of the AUKUS Maritime Innovation Challenge 2025 for commercial technologies to solve undersea and information warfare issues.As the second collaboration launched between the U.S.'s Defense Innovation Unit, Australia's Advanced Strategic Capabilities Accelerator, and the UK's Defence and Security Accelerator, the Challenge is seeking commercial companies with solutions that will enhance the tactical and operational capabilities of undersea command, control and communications while maintaining the integrity and
AI Technology Targets Enhanced Naval Escort Safety
To ensure safe passage, high-value assets such as Navy aircraft carriers require escorts when entering or exiting crowded harbors. The Perception Autonomy for Vessel Escorts (PAVE) system from Charles River Analytics automates the process to reduce the number of people required and increase the speed for each mission.The company has now won a Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) Phase II contract sponsored by the Naval Sea Systems Command which is worth up to $1.8M.While PAVE is not the first of its kind, current perception software for uncrewed surface vessels (USVs) are not able to conduct
First Dutch Navy Mine Countermeasure Vessel Starts Sea Trials
The Vlissingen, the second of the series of mine countermeasures vessels (MCM) of the Belgian-Dutch rMCM program, first intended for the Royal Netherlands Navy, has commenced sea trials.The specialized and cyber secured by design MCM vessels are the first to have the capability to embark and launch a combination of surface drones (themselves 12-metre, 19- tonne vessels), underwater drones and aerial drones.The mine countermeasures vessels will use a mainly autonomous system for detection, classification, identification and neutralization of mines This approach with an unmanned integrated system
HII Sells Over 700 REMUS Uncrewed Underwater Vehicles
HII, America’s largest shipbuilder and all-domain technologies and solutions provider, has sold more than 700 REMUS uncrewed underwater vehicles (UUVs) to customers globally.The REMUS UUV family delivers critical advantages across modern naval operations, including intelligence, surveillance, and reconnaissance (ISR), mine countermeasures, anti-submarine warfare, and electronic warfare. These autonomous systems can operate independently or be teamed with crewed platforms — such as Virginia-class nuclear submarines — expanding operational reach while reducing detection risk and
VideoRay, BlueHalo Awarded $30.7M Navy Contract
VideoRay, a BlueHalo company, was awarded a $30,735,784 contract to provide systems engineering and support services for the company's Mission Specialist Defender systems, the Maritime Expeditionary Standoff Response (MESR) remotely operated vehicle (ROV). The five-year contract was issued by the Naval Information Warfare Center (NIWC) Pacific and supports the U.S. Navy’s ongoing operations utilizing the Mission Specialist Defender systems.The award follows the U.S. Navy’s $92.6 M MESR contract awarded to VideoRay in May 2024 and further reinforces the company’s role in supporting
New Royal Navy USV to Neutralize Mines
The Royal Navy now has taken delivery of a 12m uncrewed surface vessel (USV), called Ariadne, that will be used to detect mines.This advanced technology is expected to increase operational tempo, and it eliminates the needs for sailors to enter mine danger areas.Royal Navy Motor Boat (RNMB) Ariadne can be deployed from a harbor or mother ship to scour the seabed for mines, using Thales Towed Synthetic Aperture Multiviews systems.The vessel can operate either fully autonomously or remote-controlled by operations in the portable remote command center.Fitted with AI automatic target recognition, Ariadne
Anschütz Rolls Out Navigation and Command System for Autonomous Navy Ops
German navigation specialist Anschütz has developed a navigation and command system for autonomous and unmanned maritime operations. The approval-ready system has undergone extensive testing in autonomous operation and is currently being prepared for use in prototypes, according to the company.The autonomous navigation and command system from Anschütz provides navies with a sustainable capability and safety enhancement for unmanned systems. It ensures autonomous navigation and control and operation of unmanned platforms, while also enabling remote monitoring and control from a
Saildrone, Palantir Technologies Partner for Maritime AI Solutions
Saildrone announced a partnership with Palantir Technologies to enable the scaling of autonomous systems to deliver maritime AI solutions in an era of mounting global threats and critically constrained shipbuilding capacity.Saildrone operates the world’s largest fleet of operationally deployed USVs, providing maritime domain awareness to the U.S. Navy, Department of Homeland Security, and international allies. The autonomous vehicles utilize edge-computing AI/ML algorithms to monitor activities both above and below the sea surface, detecting threats including narcotics trafficking, illegal
Oceaneering Nets US Gov Maritime Mobility System Deal
Oceaneering International, via its Aerospace and Defense Technologies (ADTech) segment, has been awarded a multi-year contract by the U.S. Department of Defense to design, build, test, and deliver a maritime mobility system.Oceaneering said it has been down-selected from multiple teams, without revealing any additional details.“We are pleased to have secured this contract with the Department of Defense which, at the time of award, is the largest initial contract value in Oceaneering’s history.“This award demonstrates the cross-industry application of our maritime technology, highlights
Cable Incidents 'Exceptional' in Frequency, says Finnish Secret Service
their critical underwater infrastructure seriously, he added."I would like to separate the anchors, whatever is behind those incidents, from the fact that there is a real threat against underwater critical infrastructure," he said, adding state actors had more effective capabilities for causing subsea destruction than by dragging anchors.(Reuters
FLANQ Enters Subsea Security Market
In response to Europe’s growing security challenges in the maritime domain, FLANQ has launched as a new provider of autonomous defense products.The company offers a comprehensive suite of commercial-off-the-shelf (COTS) uncrewed surface vessels, underwater drones, and sensor payloads, powered by FLANQ’s proprietary artificial intelligence software and hardware stack.Headquartered in northern Germany, FLANQ specializes in integrating AI capabilities with proven COTS maritime hardware. These ready-to-deploy, surface and underwater platforms provide naval forces with enhanced situational
Kongsberg Discovery’s Hugin AUV Passes US Navy Trials
.In the last year, the DIU team performed a technology assessment, culminating in quickly ordering and delivering a competent HUGIN AUV system.Kongsberg’s HUGIN Superior is an AUV system actively used by commercial and military customers since 2019.It provides immediate operational capability for Subsea and Seabed Warfare (SSW), Intelligence Preparation of the Operational Environment (IPoE), Mine Countermeasures (MCM), and inspection of critical undersea infrastructure at delivery with no required modifications
EDGE and Fincantieri Deepen Partnership for Underwater Protection Solutions
expertise and production resources to develop state-of-the-art products suitable for the challenging and complex environment of the underwater environment.“Through Maestral, EDGE and Fincantieri are advancing world-class underwater capabilities that will play a pivotal role in the future of subsea security and maritime defense.“This partnership marks a significant step in positioning the UAE at the forefront of this strategically important domain, strengthening its role as a regional pioneer with globally competitive expertise.“As underwater technologies become increasingly vital
February 2025
