Project Number: S2895

Project Title: ORCA XLUUV Bulkhead Improvements

Period of Performance: OCT23 – NOV24

The vast majority of the primary structure bulkheads in the Extra Large Unmanned Undersea Vehicle (XLUUV) are unitized machinings. Long lead times for material procurement, long processing times for bulkhead fabrication and limitations in capacity to fabricate these large items present obstacles to accelerating XLUUV production. Single piece designs constrain fabrication options since there is a limited supply base of companies with the capability to process and machine components this large. In addition, lead times for obtaining the large billets are long. This situation increases the risk of production delays, and the throughput of the limited supply base presents potential bottlenecks in production. This Center for Naval Metalworking (CNM) project is establishing the technical feasibility and benefits of implementing a new XLUUV bulkhead design that accelerates capability by solving the problems of manufacturing inflexibility, long lead times and high material cost.

The primary benefits resulting from this project is a bulkhead lead time reduction of up to 33% and a cost reduction over the baseline material.

Implementation activity consists of detailed design of the remaining sections and testing, details of which will be defined in the Technology Transition Plan. It is anticipated that design activity could occur in parallel to this Navy ManTech project to accelerate technology insertion, which is expected to be as early as FY26.