By Kris Osborn, President, Center for Military Modernization
The US Navy has taken delivery of a massive, first-of-its-kinds submarine-like large underwater drone able to patrol the depths of the undersea with advanced sensing and unprecedented endurance.
The Orca, as it is called, is a submarine-size unmanned platform capable of autonomously sensing dark regions of the sea without requiring human intervention. In development for many years, the large, submarine-sized Orca drone evolved from an experimental Unmanned Undersea Vehicle called Echo Voyager which was an 84-foot long undersea drone able to reach depths of 11,000 feet and travel ranges up to 6,500 nautical miles, according to Boeing data.
The first models of Orca now arriving are described as XLUUV Test Asset System called XLEO, a vehicle intended to help refine requirements for Orca and prepare for what will ultimately be an operational submarine-drone. The first of five XLEOs has now arrived, and the Navy and Boeing will collaborate to further mature the platform for operational service.
An essay from Naval Sea Systems Command (NAVSEA) describes Orca as an autonomous, diesel-electric submarine with a “modular” payload capacity. Boeing data or Orca says the boat operates with obstacle avoidance, autonomous buoyancy and Synthetic Aperture Sonar.
“This has been a very busy year for the XLUUV (Extra Large Unmanned Undersea Vehicle) team and their hard work is culminating in delivery of the Navy’s first-ever unmanned diesel-electric submarine,” said Capt. Scot Searles, program manager of the Unmanned Maritime Systems (PMS 406) program office.
As a diesel-electric submarine, the Orca will undoubtedly be “quieter” than most existing undersea drones, an advantage which will enable it to reach high-risk, high-threat areas while remaining undetected. This will allow manned submarines to operate at safer stand-off ranges while Orca forward-patrols as an undersea sensor “node” able to detect enemy submarines, surface ships and other threats such as mines or coastal targets.
Yet another critical advantage with this is simply endurance, as the unmanned Orca can stay on mission without needing to return for several months at time, collecting threat data and patrolling high-risk areas. A relevant essay from the National Academy of Sciences called “Military Robotics: Latest Trends and Spatial Grasp Solutions,” says some undersea drones can operate through the open ocean for as long as 70-days without needing to return.
The arrival of Test-Vehicle Orcas raises the pressing and tactically relevant question of “arming” the undersea drone with torpedoes, Tomahawks or other kinds of weapons. Of course any use of lethal force, per Pentagon doctrine, would be decided upon by a human operating command and control, yet depending upon the fidelity of undersea or surface-to-surface networking, an Orca could be programmed by human decision-makers to fire upon an destroy a critical target its sensors have identified. It may need to surface so that an antenna or wireless signal of some kind could receive direction from humans, as real-time undersea data transmission is still evolving to a large degree, yet it is entirely realistic that the Orca could identify a forward target and then be programmed to fire upon a confirmed target. The key advantage here is that the drone could operate from a forward-firing position without having to place sailors or seamen at risk.
Kris Osborn is President of Warrior Maven – Center for Military Modernization. Osborn previously served at the Pentagon as a Highly Qualified Expert with the Office of the Assistant Secretary of the Army—Acquisition, Logistics & Technology. Osborn has also worked as an anchor and on-air military specialist at national TV networks. He has appeared as a guest military expert on Fox News, MSNBC, The Military Channel, and The History Channel. He also has a Masters Degree in Comparative Literature from Columbia University.
