Miles Jamison
HII has signed a memorandum of understanding with Babcock International Group to combine the REMUS unmanned underwater vehicles and submarine Weapon Handling and Launch Systems, or WHLS.
Advancing Unmanned Undersea Vehicle Capabilities
HII said Thursday, the companies will work on integrating HII’s UUVs into Babcock’s WHLS to utilize submarine torpedo tubes for autonomous launch and recovery of UUVs.
The initiative, an inaugural program for Babcock Mission Systems, follows the partnership established between the two companies in 2023. It also builds upon the U.S. Navy’s first forward-deployed UUV launch and recovery using HII’s REMUS through a torpedo tube.
HII, Babcock Executives on Collaboration
“This partnership demonstrates the promise of pairing Babcock’s handling and launch system technology with the capabilities of HII’s REMUS UUVs to strengthen the undersea advantage of our allies. I am proud of HII’s leadership in advancing autonomous maritime manned-unmanned teaming operations and excited about the opportunities this collaboration will unlock,” said Chris Kastner, president and CEO of HII.
“Partnering with HII, we’re combining over a century of expertise in surface and sub-surface systems to further explore marine technologies and strengthen defense capabilities — this is just the beginning of future collaborations across marine programs,” stated Nick Hine, Babcock CEO of Marine.
