SAIC Awarded Antisub Warfare DARPA Contract


By Danielle Lucey

SAIC announced 12 Nov. that it has won a prime contract by DARPA to work on the Antisubmarine Warfare Continuous Trail Unmanned Vessel program, or ACTUV.



The contract is for phases two through four, which will cover the design, build and test of a prototype unmanned surface vessel. The three-year contract period is worth $58 million for the second and third phases, with an option for phase four priced at $1 million. 



“Drawing on SAIC’s technical depth in marine hydrodynamics, ship design, sensors, and advanced autonomy, we’re confident that the SAIC team will meet or exceed DARPA’s requirements for ACTUV, a revolutionary autonomous maritime vessel,” says Pete Mikhalevsky, SAIC senior vice president and operations manager. “This exemplifies the kind of technical innovation that is the hallmark of SAIC solving our customers’ toughest problems.”



The aim of the ACTUV program is to develop an autonomous surface vessel that can track a quiet diesel-electric submarine for thousands of kilometers without human input. 



“We are very pleased that DARPA has selected SAIC to realize its vision for this revolutionary unmanned autonomous vessel that has the potential to be a game-changer in ASW and maritime operations,” says John Fratamico, SAIC senior vice president and business unit general manager.