RN takes delivery of REMUS 300 SAUVs

The RN has taken delivery of six REMUS 300 vehicles to meet its SAUV requirement. (HII)

The UK Royal Navy (RN) has begun training on the new REMUS 300 small autonomous underwater vehicles (SAUVs) delivered by HII's Mission Technologies division.

Being introduced to support mine-countermeasures (MCM) operations, the REMUS 300 is intended to enhance the capability of the RN's Hunt-class MCM vessels to deliver a full-spectrum ‘find-fix-finish' capability to maximum depth. The new 300 m-capable vehicles will also inform the next-generation Mine Hunting Capability (MHC) programme and afford interchangeable capability with the US Navy (USN).

HII's REMUS 300 is a two-person portable unmanned underwater vehicle (UUV) offering a depth rating of 305 m, increased modularity, and greater payload flexibility. The design is capable of missions of up to 20 hours duration (endurance being conditioned by the size of the lithium-ion battery sections) and speeds of up to 5 kt.

The REMUS 300 was developed and matured by Mission Technologies' Unmanned Systems business group during a two-year rapid prototyping effort involving multiple user evaluations and spiral developments, including assessments by the Naval Information Warfare Center. On March 2022 the vehicle was confirmed as the USN's next-generation small UUV programme of record, known as Lionfish.

The RN placed an GBP8 million (USD9.77 million) contract with HII in October 2022 for an initial six REMUS 300 vehicles to meet its requirement for a new SAUV to locate, classify, and identify sea mines and other seabed threats. All six systems were delivered to the UK earlier this year.