ARLINGTON, Va., Aug. 20 (UPI) -- A U.S. military technology organization, citing the threat from quiet diesel electric submarines, has tapped SAIC for countermeasure development.
Under an award for Phases Two-Four of the U.S. Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency's Anti-Submarine Warfare Continuous Trail Unmanned Vessel program, SAIC will design, construct and demonstrate an unmanned vessel that tracks diesel electric submarines for months at a time with minimal human guidance.
"Key features and technology for the vessel include advanced software, robust autonomy for safe operations in accordance with maritime laws and innovative sensors to continuously track the quietest of submarine targets," said Scott Littlefield, DARPA program manager.
"Our goal is to transition an operational game-changer to the Navy. This should create an asymmetry to our advantage, negating a challenging submarine threat at 1-10th their cost of building subs.
"The program also establishes foundational technologies for future unmanned naval systems," he said.
DARPA said it hopes to test the prototype developed by Science Applications International Corp. in 2015.
The contract is worth nearly $58.5 million.
