The UK Ministry of Defence has awarded a £15.4 million contract to Plymouth-based MSubs for the design and build of an uncrewed submarine. The 17-tonne Extra Large Autonomous Underwater Vehicle will be delivered in two years and will work side by side with crewed submarines to monitor underwater activity and help counter increasing threats to the UK’s critical national infrastructure, such as deep-sea cables and pipelines.
Named Cetus after a mythological sea creature, the LAUV will be able to cover up to 1,000 miles in a single mission and will have a maximum operational depth that exceeds that of any of the current submarine fleet.
The project is the latest phase of the Royal Navy’s experimentation with autonomous underwater systems. At around the size of a bus, the sub will be the largest and most complex submersible of its type operated by any European navy, yet will fit inside a shipping container for rapid transportation to wherever it is required.
The unarmed, battery-powered craft is described as an operational demonstrator.
ROYAL NAVY