Hadalus, a commercially developed long-endurance, affordable extra-large uncrewed underwater vehicle (XLUUV) has been put through its paces by the U.S. Navy.
Developed by Raytheon and Composite Energy Technologies (CET), Hadalus is a 10-metre free‑flooded XLUUV with a claimed endurance of more than 2,000 nautical miles which can be launched and recovered underwater.
As per a press statement from Raytheon’s parent company RTX: “During a recent U.S. 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 U.S. 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.”
Raytheon Naval Systems & Sustainment VP Jen Gauthier commented: “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
“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.”
The firms claim the flooded-hull design and carbon‑fibre construction of Hadalus, designed from scratch over 18 months, means it has a cost-per-unit of between one‑third and one‑fifth of comparable XLUUVs.
CEO and president of CET Chase Hogoboom added: “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.”
- You can read more details on the RTX website
