Huntington Ingalls Industries to spearhead Navy’s SUUV initiative

The Navy has selected Huntington Ingalls Industries (HII) to produce and test its REMUS 300 craft as the branch’s next-generation small unmanned underwater vehicle (SUUV) program of record.

“HII is proud of our longstanding partnership with the U.S. Navy and now, to lead in this important direction on behalf of our customer,” HII CEO Chris Kastner said. “This program demonstrates the value of our investment in autonomous and unmanned systems and our customer familiarity. We are confident that these technologies will both support the Navy mission and enhance effectiveness for the all-domain force.”

The SUUV program, also known as Lionfish, serves as the next-generation Mk18 Mod 1 Swordfish program that also deploys HII’s REMUS technology.

“I am very proud of our talented team and see this as an important milestone in supporting the Navy’s and allies’ unmanned strategy now and into the future,” HII Executive Vice President and President of HII’s Mission Technologies Division Andy Green said. “The REMUS 300 is the most advanced small UUV on the market and will provide capabilities that are essential to the Navy mission.”

Duane Fotheringham, president of the unmanned systems business group in HII’s Mission Technologies division, said REMUS UUVs have been extending the capabilities of the warfighter since they were initially used in combat during Operation Iraqi Freedom in 2003.

“We’ve been enhancing, maturing, and refining this technology since then and are pleased the REMUS 300 meets needs for the Navy’s next-generation UUV program,” she said.