The US Department of Defense has awarded Northrop Grumman a $24.9-million contract for a new autonomous undersea sensing research and development program.
The Full Spectrum Undersea Warfare Innovative Naval Prototype Autonomous Undersea Exploitation effort aims at enhancing the US Navy’s autonomous undersea threat detection capabilities.
It calls for pushing the envelope of sonar-based perception and exploitation capabilities through the development of specialized algorithms and sensor systems.
“The development of specialized algorithms and sensor systems is required to understand and develop techniques to push autonomy sensing and reaction to ensure persistent systems are viable,” a Department of Defense contracting notice stated.
“This includes sonar design, real time processing, perception and autonomy.”
60-Month Project
The contract was competitively procured and is managed by the Office of Naval Research within the US Department of the Navy.
An amount of $50,000 has been earmarked at the time of award for fiscal 2025.
Work will be performed in Annapolis, Maryland, with an expected completion in March 2030.
The 60-month project has no additional options.
