Leidos is building an Autonomous Continuous Trail Unmanned Vessel for long-term monitoring of submarines as part of an anti-submarine warfare program by the Defense Advanced Research Project Agency.
ACTUV will be equipped with sensors, electro-optics and radars, as well as sensor control, navigation and status reporting features to support intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance missions, Leidos said Monday.
“It would help keep our troops out of harm’s way and provide capability in more harsh environmental conditions for a longer period of time,” said John Fratamico, a group president at Leidos.
The company said maritime and hydrodynamic engineers, scientists and analytics professionals have developed the ACTUV platform and its component programs.
Leidos is working with Oregon Iron Works to supervise ACTUV’s construction at the Christensen Shipyard facility in Vancouver, Washington and expects to launch and test the vessel in 2015.
The ACTUV program at DARPA is headed by Scott Littlefield.