Navy builds new massive undersea attack drones

The Navy has taken several new steps in its development of several large underwater drones designed to conduct undersea reconnaissance, search for and destroy mines, and possibly launch attacks. The Navy has taken several new steps in its development of several large underwater drones designed to conduct undersea reconnaissance, share combat essential data with submarine "motherships," search for and destroy mines and - in some cases - launch attacks on enemy surface and undersea vessels The two new undersea drones, to be configured with advanced sensors and weapons, are called the Orca Extra Large Unmanned Undersea Vehicle (XLUUV) and the Large Diameter Unmanned Undersea Vehicle (LDUUV). "These will help consolidate Navy vision to bring UUVs (Unmanned Underwater Vehicles) and USVs (Unmanned Surface Vessels) to the fleet, and integrate them with surface vessels and submarines," Capt. Pete Small, Program Manager for Unmanned Systems, said recently at the Surface Navy Association. The construction strategy, according to developers, is to engineer a new "upgradeable," multi-mission drone able to quickly integrate new technology and payloads as they emerge.