The Navy wants to turn submarines into 'UUV motherships'
Nicholas Slayton - Yesterday 8:08 PM
The U.S. Navy is aiming to expand a system that will let submarines launch and recover uncrewed underwater vehicles (or UUVs). The idea, Navy leaders say, is to turn the nuclear attack submarine fleet into UUV “motherships” that can launch uncrewed objects both for offensive and reconnaissance purposes and for explosive ordnance disposal.
Right now the 600-pound Razorback UUV that the Navy has requires a dry-dock storage system and needs to be recovered by divers by hand, a cumbersome and time consuming task. Submarine Force commander Vice Adm. Bill Houston called the launching part “easy,” but said the rest is tough, according to the U.S. Naval Institute’s news outlet. Houston was speaking at the Naval Submarine League’s annual symposium.
The Navy has tested and proved that it can recover medium-sized UUVs, per Rear. Adm. Doug Perry, director of submarine warfare for the Office of Chief of Naval Operations. The service has yet to implement them fleetwide, he said. That is coming in the “near future.”
“While the submarine is moving, the UUV has to find that torpedo tube and drive in,” Perry said to reporters.
https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/world/the-navy-wants-to-turn-submarines-into-uuv-motherships/ar-AA13MIiD?ocid=msedgntp&cvid=064703d4021740cb9cfdff677ea07726
