US Navy press release
The Orca XLUUV is one of several unmanned maritime systems programs that the Navy is developing and acquiring to expand to the hybrid Fleet.
“Getting Orca into the hands of our warfighters will help us get after my project 33 targets because she is another player – with some really unique capabilities – on the field in America’s Warfighting Navy,” said Franchetti. “Orca, and other platforms like her, are an important step forward as we drive towards our future hybrid fleet, which is going be composed of manned and unmanned platforms. It’s a hybrid fleet that we know we will need to maintain our warfighting advantage.”
Orca and other autonomous systems represent a leap forward in naval warfare, providing unmatched operational advantages by extending reach, reducing risks to personnel, and enhancing strategic capabilities.
“I have no doubt that Orca will contribute to our future lethality, to our warfighting effectiveness, and further bolster our ability to deter any potential adversaries,” said Franchetti. “What we learn from this capability will inform the development of future robotic and autonomous systems, and ultimately provide a lot of agility, flexibility and new options to our nation’s decision makers, so that if deterrence fails, we’re ready to fight and win decisively.”
As reflected in CNO’s Navigation Plan for America’s Warfighting Navy “operationalizing robotic and autonomous systems: move proven systems into the hands of the warfighters”, is one of seven project 33 targets that will help the Navy permanently raise the baseline level of readiness for the possibility of war with the People’s Republic of China by 2027.
Construction of XLE-1 is complete, and the vehicle is at Marina Shipyard for contractor pierside and at-sea testing. Delivery of XLE-1 to the Navy is expected in early 2025, with follow-on Navy Developmental and Operational Testing (DT/OT) through the third quarter of fiscal year 2025. After completion of Developmental and Operational Testing, UUVRON 3 will complete crew certification, and XLE-1 will be ready for deployment.
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Naval News comments:
XLE-1 is the first of the six Boeing Orca prototypes ordered from the U.S. Navy in 2019. It should be noted that this is not the first Orca handed over to the U.S. Navy, as the service recieved the XLE-0 Test Asset System last December. The Navy procurred the XLUUVs in response to a 2015 joint emergent operational need for an underwater mining asset, and aims to include other capabilities such as intelligence gathering and electronic warfare in future mission sets.
Despite Orca’s procurement preceding recent unmanned developments, such as the Replicator and Hellscape initatives, the XLUUV’s capabilities may prove crucial to American operations within the Western Pacific against the much larger People’s Liberation Army Navy. Franchetti’s unmanned push also extends to surface vessels, most predomently seen with the deployment of Unmanned Surface Vessel Division One in the Indo-Pacific last year under Integrated Battle Problem 23.2. With the disparity in fleet sizes, unmanned assets have been viewed as a way to put more sensors, missile cells, and other capabilities into the water to support the fleet’s crewed warships.
