BAE Systems dives into medium UUV market

UK-based BAE Systems has unveiled the newest addition to its unmanned undersea vehicle (UUV) portfolio, the Riptide UUV-12.

The 12-inch diameter vehicle is the company’s entry into the medium UUV market – joining three small UUV variants.

It also marks the first new vehicle since last year’s acquisition of Riptide Autonomous Solutions.

“The Riptide UUV-12 system significantly extends the Riptide family of UUVs by taking us into the medium UUV market,” said Jeff Smith, chief scientist at BAE Systems’ FAST Labs research and development organization. “With this medium-size platform, we are strategically aligning our modular, open architecture-based UUV platform to meet rapidly expanding applications and requirements.”

Riptide UUV-12 can adapt to meet a variety of mission needs, including those that require larger and more power-hungry payloads. When integrated with the company’s mission system payloads, it can deliver critical capabilities including combinations of Radio Frequency (RF) signal collection, RF electronic warfare, active acoustics, acoustic Identification Friend or Foe, acoustic and RF communications, mission autonomy, and navigation.

Key Riptide UUV-12 features include:

Versatility – agnostic, modular system design enables easy modification and customization for various development needs; Endurance – high-efficiency electronics architecture coupled with a highly efficient, low-noise propulsion system; Open system – native integration with industry-leading sensors and technology.

The Riptide UUVs perform at great depth, at long range and high endurance to meet various commercial and military requirements.