The Navy is looking to bolster its fleet of unmanned surface and subsurface systems with a slew of new platforms and upgrades. The service's portfolio of unmanned underwater vehicles, or UUVs, includes extra-large, large, medium and small variants, according to Capt. Pete Small, program manager for unmanned maritime systems in the program executive office for unmanned and small combatants. The Navy recently awarded a contract to Boeing for production of five Orca extra-large UUV prototypes, he said during a conference hosted by the Association for Unmanned Vehicle Systems International in Washington, D.C. The contract, including options, is worth up to $274 million. The service originally awarded a smaller contract for four systems in February, but later increased it by one system.
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