What The Navy’s Massive Orca Submarine Drone Is Actually Capable Of
We dive deep with the captain in charge of the Orca program on the drone's current abilities and what it could be capable of in the future.
Geoff Ziezulewicz
Posted 20 Hours Ago
The U.S. Navy's Orca UUV.
The U.S. Navy’s Orca drone, also known as the Extra-Large Unmanned Undersea Vehicle (XLUUV), has been in development for years, but will soon be in the hands of sailors as the sea service works to figure out how they will use the capability going forward. The Navy first ordered five of the semi-tractor trailer-sized submersible drones from Boeing Defense in 2019. But like other Navy acquisition programs, the Orca has been hit by cost increases and delivery delays.
Still, 2025 is shaping up to be a big year for the Orca, which is based, at least in part, on lessons learned from Boeing’s Echo Voyager demonstrator. While a so-called Orca “test asset system” drone was delivered to the Navy in late 2023, it’s getting its first real Orca this year. That will be followed by the Navy’s operational testing and evaluation of the platform in the coming months, which will allow the Navy to further test and refine the platform before eventually joining the fleet for real-world operations. The development comes as unmanned underwater vehicles of all sizes are increasingly viewed as potentially providing a revolution in undersea warfare among friends and foes alike, with China, in particular, pursuing the technology aggressively.
To discuss where Orca stands, and where it could potentially go in a future that is trending more toward unmanned systems everyday, TWZ chatted with Capt. Matt Lewis, a submariner and program manager for the Navy’s Unmanned Maritime Systems office. Lewis shared his thoughts on the service’s premiere submarine drone, its present and future capabilities, and the unique challenges drones face operating in an undersea domain, among other topics.
This interview has been edited for grammar, length and clarity.
https://www.twz.com/news-features/what-the-navys-massive-orca-submarine-drone-is-actually-capable-of
