Raytheon and Composite Energy Technologies (CET) have demonstrated the undersea launch capabilities of HADALUS, a new long-endurance unmanned undersea vehicle (UUV).
During a recent US Navy exercise, the UUV completed a series of at-sea missions on a Navy undersea test range, successfully demonstrating its undersea launch capabilities while submerged.
This marks the first time the US Navy has seen this integrated capability in the water and points toward a future where a single unmanned undersea platform can perform detect, reacquire and engage functions within one mission.
"This demonstration is an important step in a broader roadmap to deliver autonomous, end‑to‑end undersea capabilities that are far less detectable than surface platforms," said Jen Gauthier, vice president of Naval Systems & Sustainment at Raytheon.
"By tightly coupling design, integration and at‑sea experimentation, we've proven we can bring new autonomous solutions to the fleet quickly and cost‑effectively."
HADALUS is a 10.4-meter UUV with a 1.8-meter cross section and an endurance of more than 3,700 kilometers. The vehicle features a free-flooded, all-carbon-fiber exoskeleton designed to provide structural strength and payload capacity while reducing production costs. Raytheon and CET said the UUV is designed to cost approximately one-third to one-fifth as much as comparable long-endurance vehicles.
The companies developed HADALUS from an initial concept to a complete prototype in less than 18 months. The development included the design and construction of the vehicle, integration of the launcher, sonar and electronics, and system testing ahead of the at-sea demonstration.
"HADALUS demonstrates that the undersea industrial base can move with greater speed and dynamism than traditional development cycles allow," said Chase Hogoboom, CEO and president of CET.
"By combining CET's advanced composite vehicle architecture with Raytheon's mission systems, sensors and integration expertise, we have created a highly capable platform that can be produced at a fraction of the cost of conventional alternatives."