The US Department of Defense has awarded an $83m cost-plus-incentive-fee contract to Raytheon for the supply of the Barracuda mine neutraliser.
Raytheon is set to design, test and deploy the Barracuda mine neutralisation system for the US Navy under the agreement.
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The Barracuda system is an expendable, unmanned underwater vehicle (UUV) that has been designed to locate and neutralise bottom, near-surface and drifting sea mines.
The modular mine neutraliser features a shallow water capability and is equipped with a kill mechanism, as well as propulsion systems, sensors and a communications buoy, which facilitates wireless communication with the deployment platform.
Raytheon Integrated Defense Systems Seapower Capability Systems Business vice-president Paul Ferraro said: “We’ve applied our sonar expertise and our understanding of the complex undersea environment to Barracuda.
“It’s an innovative solution for the navy’s mine countermeasure mission and we are now one step closer to delivering.”
The current contract also includes a number of options that, if exercised, would bring the total value of the award to $362.74m.
The majority of the work related to the project (96%) will be carried out in Portsmouth, Rhode Island, while the remaining tasks will be performed in DeLeon Springs, Florida.
Work under the contract is currently scheduled for completion by November 2022.
The latest deal was secured by Raytheon as part of a full and open competition via the Federal Business Opportunities website.
The Naval Sea Systems Command (NAVSEA), Washington, District of Columbia, is serving as the contracting activity for the initiative.
NAVSEA originally issued the final solicitation for the development, production and test of the Barracuda mine neutralisation system last year as part of the US Navy’s Littoral Combat Ship (LCS) Mine Countermeasure (MCM) mission package (MP).
