US Navy Seeks Capability to Counter Undersea Drones, Human Divers

The U.S. Navy is seeking combined capabilities to detect and eliminate unmanned undersea vehicles and human divers.

In a sources sought notice posted Friday on SAM .gov, the service said it wants information on seabed and port security capabilities with tracking and fire control features. The Navy also asked for shore- or ship-based subsystems to support mission planning, tactical decision aid, field management and battle damage assessment.

According to the notice, the acquired products should enable the Navy to set up “autonomously networked” sensors using UUVs, detect and classify a target using such sensors, and measure parameters such as bearing, range and speed. The network should have a remote command and control option and the ability to autonomously assemble collected information to estimate a target’s position.

Interested parties have until Sept. 5 to respond, DefenseScoop reported Friday.

The Navy is also interested in procuring its own UUVs. It posted a notice in July to obtain feedback on commercially available large-diameter UUVs that it could use for the Snakehead surveillance program.