$800M underwater drone contract signals Pentagon's growing interest in unmanned tech

The Defense Department has awarded a nearly $800 million contract to research and develop underwater drones — a move some experts say emphasizes its growing interest in unmanned technologies.

The Pentagon selected last week 23 companies to share the contract, and each will be given tasks related to “the procurement of materials and services used to develop, build, fabricate and support the Unmanned Undersea Vehicle Family of Systems,” according to the contract announcement issued July 30.

Work on the project is expected to be completed by July 2023.

The contract supports a growing trend of defense dollars being spent on drone development. In its fiscal year 2019 budget, DOD requested $9.6 billion for unmanned technology and related systems — a 28 percent increase from the previous year, according to a report released June 25 by the Association for Unmanned Vehicle Systems International.

“Unmanned systems and robotics are key technology areas that enable the United States to counter the range of evolving threats posed on the modern battlefield,” AUVSI president and CEO Brian Wynne said in an email to Stars and Stripes.