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Plymouth firm MSubs has been awarded a £15.4 million contract by the Royal Navy for a state-of-the-art crewless submarine. The vessel will be delivered to the Navy over a two-year period and will further enhance the UK’s ability to protect our critical national infrastructure and monitor sub-sea activity.
Project Cetus – named after the mythical sea monster – extends the Royal Navy’s experiments with autonomous underwater systems. It is the first step in developing an operational autonomous submarine that will work alongside crewed submarines – including the Astute-class hunter-killers and their successors – or independently.
Its maximum operational depth will exceed that of the current submarine fleet, meaning Cetus will equip the Royal Navy with greater reach into the oceans in support of UK defence. It will be able to cover distances of up to 1,000 miles in a single mission.
Cetus will be 12 meters long – the length of a double-decker bus – 2.2 meters in diameter and weigh 17 tonnes. It will be the largest and most complex crewless submersible operated by European navies. The bespoke vessel is being designed and built for the Royal Navy by Plymouth-based tech firm MSubs. The contract will create between 10 and 70 specialist jobs in the city.
Defense Secretary Ben Wallace said:
To meet the increasing threats to our underwater infrastructure, the Royal Navy needs to stay ahead of the competition with sophisticated capabilities. Project Cetus, along with bringing forward MROS ships, will help ensure we have the right equipment to protect the UK and our allies.
Having the skills base and specialist knowledge to develop and build this vessel in the UK is testament to the UK’s leading reputation in the construction of surface and sub-surface vessels.
The ship’s size means it will fit inside a shipping container and can therefore be transported around the world wherever it is needed. It will be designed to work with the Royal Navy fleet as well as all ships of our allies.
Cetus will be a platform for the Royal Navy on which to experiment and build advanced technologies and capabilities, encourage innovation and develop best practice. The unarmed ship is battery powered, meaning its effective range can be increased by installing additional batteries.
It is also designed to be modular, with optional sections that can be added to double the vessel’s capacity.
Crewless submarines are the Royal Navy’s latest foray into autonomous systems, and have been for more than a decade. Crewless minehunting systems are already in operation in Scotland, and pilotless Pacific 24 submarines are being tested. Various aerial drones are used by ships for reconnaissance and intelligence gathering.
The Navy has invested in the XV Patrick Blackett, a dedicated tech trial ship to evaluate and test new equipment and determine how it can be used or integrated into the fleet. Cetus is equivalent to a sub-sea experiment.
First Sea Lord Admiral Sir Ben Key said:
This is a very exciting moment for Project Cetus as the Royal Navy moves forward with the development of autonomous technology.
This extra large autonomous underwater vehicle is a step-change in capability in our mission to dominate the underwater battlespace. And I am delighted that the project is able to support a small, innovative UK company that is at the cutting edge of this sector.
The contract is funded by the Anti-Submarine Warfare Spearhead programme, managed by the Royal Navy’s Develop Directorate, headquartered in Portsmouth. The vessel will be delivered by the Submarine Delivery Agency in Bristol and is the latest in a range of new underwater technologies to tackle the threats of the next decade.
Brett Phaneuf, Chief Executive Officer of MSubs, said:
The confidence the Royal Navy has shown in our small business is humbling and we look forward to working together in the future, as we have in the recent past, to develop and deploy Cetus, in the national interest.
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