Navy asks General Dynamics to help U.S. submarines deploy ocean mines using torpedo tubes from long range

WASHINGTON – U.S. Navy undersea warfare experts needed the ability for submerged U.S. submarines to deploy ocean mines from long ranges via the submarine's torpedo tubes. They found a solution from General Dynamics Mission Systems in Quincy, Mass.

Officials of the Naval Sea Systems Command in Washington announced a potential $58.1 million contract to General Dynamics in September to develop the Mining Expendable Delivery Unmanned Submarine Asset (MEDUSA) system. The contract without options is for $16 million.

MEDUSA will be an advanced maritime mining system with long-range offensive capabilities, and is to meet requirements for future submarine delivery of ocean mine payloads.

It is to be a tactical clandestine mining system, with expendable unmanned underwater vehicles (UUVs) launched from submarine torpedo tubes. The MEDUSA system will consist of the MEDUSA medium-class UUV, supporting equipment, and payloads. This contract is for prototype design, test, and risk reduction.

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If design efforts are promising, the Navy may ask General Dynamics to build four MEDUSA prototype units as early as 2026.

MEDUSA development is to follow the Unmanned Maritime Autonomy Architecture (UMAA), which seeks to develop open-systems common, modular, and scalable software for unmanned maritime vehicles. The idea is to reduce costs and accelerate deploying autonomous systems at sea.

On this contract, General Dynamics will do the work in Quincy and Taunton, Mass; Fairfax and Manassas, Va.; Scottsdale, Ariz.; Middletown, R.I.; and Greensboro, N.C., and should be finished by September 2026.

For more information contact General Dynamics Mission Systems-Quincy online at https://gdmissionsystems.com/about-us/major-locations/quincy, or Naval Sea Systems Command at www.navsea.navy.mil.