HII wins Pentagon deal for sub torpedo tube UUV system

HII has been awarded a contract by the Defense Innovation Unit to develop a submarine Torpedo Tube Launch and Recovery system designed to autonomously deploy and recover unmanned underwater vehicles from U.S. Navy submarines, the company stated.

The system is built around HII’s REMUS unmanned underwater vehicle and is intended to allow submarines to conduct UUV operations without diver assistance or modifications to standard submarine interfaces. The DIU contract follows a series of operational milestones that have progressively advanced the concept of manned-unmanned teaming in the undersea domain.

In June 2025, the U.S. Navy and Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution completed what was described as the first forward-deployed torpedo tube launch and recovery of a REMUS 600 UUV from USS Delaware, a Virginia-class submarine. Operating with an embarked unmanned undersea vehicle squadron cadre, Delaware conducted three fully autonomous launch and recovery sorties during overseas operations, all without diver support.

A month later, in July 2025, a joint team from HII, WHOI, and the Naval Undersea Warfare Center Division Newport completed the first recovery of the newer REMUS 620 into a Virginia-class torpedo tube test fixture at Seneca Lake, New York. During that testing, the vehicle demonstrated autonomous navigation and docking with a shock and fire enclosure capsule within a submerged torpedo tube fixture, as well as reverse swim-out launch and safe separation procedures.

Duane Fotheringham, president of the Unmanned Systems group in HII’s Mission Technologies division, pointed to the company’s combined experience across both manned and unmanned submarine programmes as central to its position on the work. “This contract award reflects HII’s 25-year leadership in advancing autonomous unmanned maritime platforms and integrating them into submarine operations,” he said, as quoted in the press release. “There is no company with more expertise in both the manned and unmanned sides of teamed operations. We look forward to continuing our strong partnership with the U.S. Navy to deliver the innovative solutions our forces urgently need in the subsea domain.”

HII is one of only two builders of U.S. nuclear-powered submarines and claims to be the world’s largest producer of UUVs. The company states it has delivered more than 750 REMUS vehicles to over 30 countries, including 14 NATO members, with more than 90% of those systems remaining in service after more than two decades.