DARPA’s Power Supply Technology for Undersea Navy Drones

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Editor Note: Article is being republished for viewer interest

By Katherine Owens — Warrior Maven Editorial Fellow

The Navy’s submarine fleet and undersea warfare experts are part of the select group seeking to understand the depths of the ocean and the sea floor. The seabed and deep-ocean are some of the least explored places on the planet and it is the next frontier for those members of the Office of Naval Research (ONR) seeking to achieve superiority in the underwater theater.

Naval undersea innovation is geared toward domain control, which encompasses two significant areas for advancement. The first, as stated by the ONR’s Full Spectrum Undersea Warfare (FSUSW) program, is increased operational effectiveness; and the second is detection capability.

Power Supply Technology for UUV’s

The key to advancing any undersea vessel’s capabilities is advancing its power supply technology. The Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) is one of the agencies taking the lead on developing new power supply hardware for unmanned underwater vehicles (UUVs). 

Technology currently in development by DARPA and its partners will no longer rely on high-density batteries nor will it use nuclear power.