ARLINGTON, Va. – U.S. military researchers are asking industry for new ideas for defeating enemy uncrewed underwater vehicles (UUVs) that are trying to penetrate defenses to enter harbors and ports.
Officials of the U.S. Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) in Arlington, Va., released a program solicitation (DARPA-PS-24-23) on Wednesday for the Sync program, which is classified secret.
The counter-UUV Sync program seeks to investigate orthogonal approaches to counter UUVs that do not rely on the complex detection and localization of the UUV. Orthogonal involves 90-degree angles.
Sync will investigate several different approaches to defeat the UUV, starting with modeling and simulation, eventually moving to hardware in the loop, and pool testing.
Related: Unmanned submarines seen as key to dominating the world’s oceans
Sync is a 15-month base period with the potential for follow-on efforts. DARPA anticipates several performers for base period awards, and only the most promising approaches may move on to follow-on efforts.
Details of the Sync program are classified. Qualified companies may request secret details by filling out the form at the end of the Sync solicitation online at file:///C:/Users/jkeller/Downloads/DARPA-PS-24-23%20(1).pdf, and emailing it to [email protected], with “Request DARPA-solicitation-24-23” in the subject line, no later than 4 Oct. 2024.
A classified proposers day is scheduled for 1 Oct. 2024. Abstracts are due by 15 Oct. 2024, and DARPA will take questions until 3 Oct. 2024. Email questions or concerns to [email protected]. More information is online at https://sam.gov/opp/d0aca9e2cc0d46dd9ae4ffcd4e6686a8/view.