Significant Enhancements Resulting from SEA HUNTER Evaluation
Leidos has completed delivery of the SEAHAWK advanced autonomous vessel to the US Navy under an Office of Naval Research 2017 contract valued at approx. $35.5 million (€29.8 million), the company announced on 7 April.
“As technology continues to accelerate and adversaries become more sophisticated, our customers must constantly evolve,” commented Nevin Carr, Leidos VP and Navy Strategic Account Executive. SEAHAWK is a long-range, high-availability USV with a composite trimaran hull, substantially larger than other USN USVs, with significantly increased capabilities compared to smaller vessels in terms of range, seakeeping and payload capacity. It is designed to operate with little human involvement, thus providing a forward-deployed, rapid-response asset for global maritime surveillance.
“We didn’t just put an autonomous navigation system onto an existing ship,” explained Dan Brintzinghoffer, VP for Maritime Solutions. “Every mechanical and electrical system on SEAHAWK has unique configurations designed to run for months at a time without maintenance or a crew.”
The 145t vessel carries 14,000 gallons of fuel that can power the twin diesel engines for a substantial period. The vessel’s upgraded design benefits from over 300 lessons learned from the previous SEA HUNTER, jointly evaluated by Leidos and the Navy, including upgraded electrical systems, a payload mounting system and test operator control station.
