First details of New Long-Range Submarine Drone for Italian Navy
The Italian Ministry of Defence has recently submitted to the Italian Parliament a request to approve the programme for a new long-range autonomous underwater vehicle (AUV) capability for intelligence, surveillance, reconnaissance (ISR) and anti-submarine warfare (ASW) operations.
Unveiled with the release of the Italian MoD’s Multi-year Planning Document (Documento Programmatico Pluriennale) 2023-2025, the submission to the Parliament provides first details on the programme.
To satisfy the requirements for enforced persistence, surveillance and data collection in areas of direct national strategic interests, as well as the uncrewed ASW capabilities in support of force projection from the sea, alongside the control of underwater infrastructures such as pipelines, cables and offshore platforms, as reported by the accompanying submission documentation, the Italian Navy General Staff has requested the procurement of new long-range ISR/ASW AUV platforms with advanced capabilities in terms of modularity, endurance and flexibility. The latter package comprises three Large Displacement Autonomous Underwater Vehicles (LDAUVs) alongside their remote command and control station as well as launch and recovery system to be deployed on board surface and underwater platforms. The programme also includes payloads and systems in addition to training of operators and maintainers and logistic support.