Under the waves of our seas, a subtle but revolutionary change is occurring. Contemporary navies are embracing robotic platforms that not only augment current fleets, they redefine them. Center stage of this revolution are extra-large unmanned undersea vehicles, or XLUUVs. These are not yesterday’s little drones. They’re enormous, long-range, and designed for serious business. Pioneering this next era is the U.S. Navy’s Orca XLUUV—a dramatic step forward that combines autonomy, persistence, and raw capability into one advanced submarine with no crew.
Orca’s development started with a problem: how do the Navy project power and sustain presence in hostile waters without putting lives at risk? That was the challenge that ignited a contest in 2017, when Boeing and Lockheed Martin were awarded contracts to create prototypes. Ultimately, Boeing’s design—to tap into its experience in deep-sea engineering—prevailed. The pace since has been steady and concentrated. The first boat, XLE0, completed initial testing later in 2023, and soon afterwards, the first operational Orca, XLE1, started at-sea tests after being finished at the Marina Shipyard.
So, how is the Orca so unlike anything that came before it? First, size and endurance. At nearly 85 feet long, it’s larger than some WWII-era submarines, and it can dive down to 11,000 feet. It runs on a hybrid system—combining advanced batteries with a marine diesel generator—which gives it the range to travel over 6,000 nautical miles without support.
That allows it to remain outside for months, operating independently, with the help of an advanced suite of systems that includes inertial navigation, Doppler velocity logs, depth tracking, and GPS when at sea. It’s crafted to operate with pinpoint accuracy where GPS and radio signals wouldn’t even penetrate.
Endurance aside, the true elegance of the Orca is in its payload capacity. It has a 34-foot modular payload bay that has a capacity to carry as much as 8 tons of equipment. That could translate to sending nine medium UUVs or a cloud of small drones. It can also be outfitted with sensors, communications packages, or weapons, depending on the mission.
Due to its open-architecture design, the Orca isn’t committed to a single mission profile—it can be reloaded rapidly to conduct mine clearance, anti-submarine tasks, surveillance, or even seabed operations. If necessary, it can execute missions without the payload module at all, streamlining its mission to accommodate whatever’s required.
Operationally, it’s a game-changer. Although the Orca may be deployed from shore or a service ship, once it’s in the water, it stands alone. It goes to remote locations, lies in wait for weeks or even months, gets its work done, and returns—without ever endangering a sailor. That level of autonomy makes it an ideal candidate for reconnaissance in enemy waters, intelligence gathering, or the delivery of payloads in areas no human-operated platform could safely navigate.
As one high-ranking Navy official explained, the Orca doesn’t augment the fleet—it’s a member of the fleet, adding its special capabilities to the fight. Its experience will inform the way the Navy designs and fields its next generation of unmanned vehicles for decades to come.
The implications are difficult to exaggerate. Integrating systems such as Orca into the Navy’s hierarchy signals a world where crewed and uncrewed ships work in tandem smoothly. The fact that the Orca can act as a “mothership” to smaller drones introduces an entirely new level to operations—one that is centered on flexibility, dispersion, and unpredictability. It makes it hard for potential enemies to speculate not only about where the Navy is, but also how it is working. That’s a massive change from the old system of massive, manned submarines operating in isolation.
Across the globe, nations are attempting to follow. The U.S. is not alone in developing XLUUVs, but it is at the forefront. Australia, the U.K., and Canada are rolling out their models, each with its characteristics.
Australia has the Ghost Shark, Canada has the Solus-XR, and the U.K. has the Herne under development. A few of these employ newer fuel sources or other propulsion technologies, but none have achieved the operational readiness the Orca currently enjoys. China, India, and others are building unmanned submarines as well, though information is sparse and development is uncertain.
The future belongs to the Orca XLUUV—it’s not merely a device—it’s a bridge. What the Navy discovers from operating and perfecting it will carry through to the next generation of naval warfare. It heralds a new age, one in which stealth and autonomy go hand-in-hand and unmanned systems perform tasks too dull, dirty, or dangerous for manned crews. The fact that the Orca exists speaks to a larger reality about modern defense: innovation never rests, and those who forge ahead beneath the waves will possess the strategic advantage for decades to come.