US defense contractor Raytheon has been awarded an $83.3 million cost-plus-incentive-fee contract for the design, test and deployment of the Barracuda mine neutralization system.
The Barracuda mine neutralization system is a mission module within the US Navy’s Littoral Combat Ship (LCS) Mine Countermeasure (MCM) Mission Package (MP). The system will be used to neutralize mines that have been previously located by other mine countermeasure assets.
Specifically, it is an expendable, autonomous unmanned underwater vehicle intended to identify and neutralize bottom, near surface and drifting sea mines.
The Barracuda mine neutralizer will field a shallow water capability and be an expendable modular neutralizer consisting of a kill mechanism, propulsion, sensors, and communications buoy that enables wireless communication to the deployment platform.
As informed, the contract includes options which, if exercised, would bring the cumulative value of this contract to $362.7 million.
Work will be performed in Portsmouth, Rhode Island and DeLeon Springs, Florida and is expected to be completed by November 2022.