A collaborative effort involving HII, the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution (WHOI), and the US Navy’s Naval Undersea Warfare Center Division Newport has successfully retrieved a REMUS 620 unmanned undersea vehicle (UUV).
The operation took place during testing at a Virginia-class submarine torpedo tube and shutterway test fixture at Seneca Lake, New York.
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This activity supports ongoing efforts by the US Navy Submarine Force to advance the launch and recovery of autonomous undersea vehicles from submarine torpedo tubes.
The joint team accomplished this outcome in under seven months after incorporating WHOI’s Yellow Moray torpedo tube launch and recovery technology into REMUS 620. The UUV has been developed by HII.
The exercise involved an in-water test, which demonstrated that the REMUS 620 could execute autonomous navigational and communication protocols. These capabilities enabled it to dock with a shock and fire enclosure capsule (SAFECAP) loaded into a submerged Virginia-class submarine fixture.
During the same period, the REMUS 620 also showcased its ability to perform a reverse swimout launch and achieve safe separation.
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By GlobalDataHII mission technologies division unmanned systems group president Duane Fotheringham said: “This successful docking validates the research and development investments and efforts of HII; specifically the REMUS 620 engineers working in close cooperation with our WHOI teammates.
“We leveraged WHOI’s previous three years of TTL&R work, lessons learned, and expertise to greatly accelerate our progress in successfully getting to this important milestone.”
The REMUS 620 can be deployed from submarines as well as small crewed or uncrewed boats, amphibious ships, surface combatants, and helicopters.
It is also designed to serve as a platform for launching and operating other uncrewed vehicles or payloads underwater.
The REMUS 620 medium UUV offers operational endurance up to 110 hours and can travel 275 nautical miles on a single battery cycle, according to HII.
In March 2024, Mission Technologies, a division of HII, received a second order for the Remus 620 UUV from an undisclosed country in the Indo-Pacific region.
