L3Harris Technologies has secured a contract from the U.S. Department of Defense’s Defense Innovation Unit to provide a system enabling submarines to deploy and recover autonomous underwater vehicles through torpedo tubes, according to the company.
The Torpedo Tube Launch and Recovery (TTLR) system is designed to allow submarines to operate uncrewed underwater vehicles without surfacing, supporting missions such as intelligence gathering, mine detection and seabed operations. L3Harris said the system has been validated by U.S. and allied navies for these roles.
“The Torpedo Tube Launch and Recovery system is not a future capability, it’s answering combatant commander needs today,” said Nino DiCosmo, President of Maritime, Space & Mission Systems at L3Harris. “Our system is the first to successfully launch and recover AUVs from a submarine, providing commanders flexibility for persistent undersea operations and maintaining essential stealth.”
The system is designed to deploy the company’s Iver4 900 autonomous underwater vehicles and is built with a modular architecture intended to be compatible across multiple submarine classes. According to the company, it also incorporates lithium-ion battery technology to enable longer-duration missions, alongside a hot-swap capability to support sustained operations.
L3Harris stated that the approach allows existing submarine platforms to expand their operational capacity without requiring new hull construction, while also supporting manned-unmanned teaming concepts. The company added that the system aligns with broader collaboration efforts under initiatives such as AUKUS Pillar 2.
