US Military Gets Powerful New Weapon

Boeing on Wednesday announced it has delivered the first Orca Extra Large Uncrewed Undersea Vehicle (XLUUV) to the U.S Navy.

According to Boeing, the XLUUV is part of "a new class of autonomous submarine that can perform long duration critical missions to achieve undersea maritime dominance in changing environments and contested waters."

The company said the 80-ton XLUUV, which the Navy has designated as "Orca," passed its final rounds of testing earlier this month. The Pentagon ordered five Orcas in 2019, and Boeing conducted its first test launch of the submarine at Huntington Beach, California, last year. The Navy's Orcas are expected to be put to use for underwater surveillance, minesweeping and electronic warfare. Defence Blog wrote the Navy could also integrate "diverse armaments such as cruise missiles, torpedoes, and aerial drones into XLUUVs."

"This is the culmination of more than a decade of pioneering work, developing a long-range, fully autonomous undersea vehicle with a large payload capacity that can operate completely independently of a host vehicle," Ann Stevens, vice president of Boeing's maritime and intelligence systems, said in a statement.

Stevens added: "I've had the distinct pleasure of witnessing our team bring this first-of-its-kind capability to life, and I'm proud of their innovation, perseverance and unwavering commitment which has yielded the most advanced and capable UUV in the world.

"With the Navy's partnership, we look forward to continuing to deliver this game-changing vehicle to the fleet."

Newsweek reached out to the U.S. Department of Defense via email on Wednesday for comment.

In July, Boeing shared a video on X, formerly Twitter, of the Orca out at sea, where the submarine was joined in the waters by a pod of dolphins.

"The @USNavy Orca XLUUV's full, advanced #autonomy allows the vehicle to operate for months at a time in open, congested and contested waters with little-to-no human intervention," the caption for July's post on X read.

On Wednesday, Boeing shared new images on X of the Navy receiving its first Orca.

Boeing's press release on the Orca said the submarine's roots stretch back to the 2012 design and development of Echo Voyager, which it called a "precursor" to the XLUUV.

Defence Blog wrote that Boeing hit some roadblocks during the development of the Orca.

"Last September, the U.S. Government Accountability Office revealed that the program faced significant delays, stretching the delivery timeline by at least three years and surpassing its original cost estimate by over $240 million," Defence Blog said.