Navy’s Robotic Orca Submarine Could Be A Gamechanger In The Pacific

Navy’s Robotic Orca Submarine Could Be A Gamechanger In The Pacific.

The Orca is a long-range autonomous XLUUV being developed by Boeing. The company is currently manufacturing four Orca XLUUVs under a $274.4 million contract awarded in 2019 when Boeing beat Lockheed Martin’s bid during the design phase. The company’s successful design bid was based on its Echo Voyager unmanned diesel-electric submersible.

The Orca will be an “open-architecture reconfigurable UUV with the core vehicle providing guidance and control, navigation, autonomy, situational awareness, core communications, power distribution, energy and power, propulsion and maneuvering, and mission sensors.