Textron Systems Corporation, a Textron Inc. company, is set to provide Mine Sweeping Payload Delivery Systems (PDS) in a new contract from the U.S. Navy.
The Minesweeping PDS will sweep for magnetic, acoustic, and magnetic/acoustic combination mines using a towed acoustic generator and magnetic minesweeping cable.
Through this new contract award, the CUSV® (Common Unmanned Surface Vehicle) system will be optimized to complete mine sweeping missions semi-autonomously, advancing the CUSV system’s capabilities.
The $106 million contract supports Mine Countermeasure Mission Package (MCMMP) PDS production, spares, and engineering services. The MCMMP supports U.S. Navy mine sweeping and mine hunting mission sets.
Textron Systems has supported the Navy’s Unmanned Influence Sweep System (UISS) design/production contract award since 2014, reportedly developing the first mine-sweep payload delivery system designed for USV operations.
Textron Systems was also awarded the Magnetic and Acoustic Generation Next Unmanned Superconducting Sweep (MAGNUSS) award in March 2023 to support the Office of Naval Research (ONR) to develop new non-towed sweep system capabilities to supplement legacy towed mine-sweep systems.
David Phillips, Senior Vice President Air, Land and Sea Systems, commented, “The MCM mission package advances the Navy’s abilities with USVs, providing additional security for our sailors. Textron Systems excels at integration work across our air, land and sea domains. The PDS award builds on that expertise and allows the Navy to take integration one step further through production and fielding, resulting in a semi-autonomous solution.”
