ASW Continuous Trail Unmanned Vessel

[1] While the ACTUV program is focused on demonstrating the ASW tracking capability the core platform and autonomy technologies are broadly extendable to underpin a wide range of missions and configurations for future unmanned naval vessels.

ACTUV will operate under minimal supervisory command and control; with shore bases intermittently monitoring performance and providing high-level mission objectives through beyond line-of-sight communications links.

It will operate alongside other naval assets including the P-8 Poseidon, MQ-4C Triton, and sonobuoy sensors as a forward deployed and rapid-response node in the global maritime surveillance network.

First, two side pods with long-range acquisition mid-frequency active-passive sonar will verify the presence of a submarine and identify the area of uncertainty (AOU) affected by the threat to limit close surface ships' movement.

Some countries use "competitive strategies" to create cheap weaponry, hardware, and methods to impose on their adversaries a situation where they would need to incur costs of developing countermeasures that are disproportionately higher than the defenses they would be used against.

To augment radar, as well as reduce reliance on it, DARPA released a Request for Information (RFI) in March 2015 for other sensors for the ACTUV to perceive and classify nearby ships and other objects.

[2] After making Broad Agency Announcement (BAA),[6] DARPA allowed the national security, health, and engineering company Leidos to go forward with the ACTUV program in February 2014.

Leidos' model is an unmanned trimaran built out of carbon composites equipped with navigation and piloting sensors, electro-optics, and long and short range radar to be capable of tracking diesel submarines at extreme depths for months at a time.

[7] Leidos announced on 18 November 2014 that a test vessel fitted with autonomy software and sensors to mimic the configuration of the ACTUV completed 42 days of at-sea demonstrations to fulfill collision regulations (COLREGS).

[12] DARPA launched the ACTUV technology demonstrator on 27 January 2016 at its construction site of Vigor Shipyards in Portland, Oregon and conducted local trials through February, achieving speeds of 27 knots (31 mph; 50 km/h).

Upcoming trials will include testing of sensors, the vessel's autonomy suite, compliance with maritime collision regulations, and proof-of-concept demonstrations for a variety of U.S. Navy missions.

[16] In late October 2016, the ACTUV demonstrated another DARPA program, the Towed Airborne Lift of Naval Systems (TALONS), aimed at increasing ships' sensor capabilities by elevating them higher into the air using a parachute.