Contracts Secured for Autonomous Mine Hunting & Neutralization Systems

The Portfolio Acquisition Executive for Robotic and Autonomous Systems has awarded AEVEX Maritime Systems two contracts totaling $41.6 million for the production, fielding, and operation of dedicated mine countermeasures payloads across naval autonomous craft.

The initiative expands mine-hunting and neutralization capabilities across the U.S. Navy’s existing Global Autonomous Reconnaissance Craft (GARC) fleet, as well as AEVEX’s newer Lynx and next-generation Chaser small unmanned surface vessels (sUSVs). The awards stem from the division’s performance in the Defense Innovation Unit (DIU) Mine Countermeasures Prize Challenge and the earlier rapid integration of mine hunting capabilities with the GARC platform at the outset of Operation Epic Fury.

The funding is divided into two separate awards: a $15.6 million contract covering the production and operation of the SightGlass system, and a $26 million contract for the Fisher system. SightGlass functions as a modular mine-hunting and identification payload compatible with GARC, Lynx, and Chaser vessels, having completed test and evaluation by the Navy and DIU. Complementing this capability, the Fisher payload, developed in partnership with VideoRay, is engineered to reacquire and neutralize mines from Lynx and Chaser vessels. When fielded together aboard Lynx platforms, the two systems operate in tandem to locate, identify, and neutralize multiple classes of maritime threats.

“Mines are cheap to deploy but expensive to clear, and the threat is growing,” said Bob Pudney, Senior Vice President, AEVEX Maritime Systems. “DIU asked industry to prove it could change that equation, and our team did it on the water, not just on paper. These awards let us put SightGlass and Fisher to work at scale for the warfighter.”

Providing naval forces with remote and autonomous methods to detect and neutralize ordnance reflects ongoing Navy investments into expanding the multi-mission capacity of uncrewed surface platforms. The deployment builds directly on AEVEX Maritime Systems’ operational track record, which includes the delivery and fielding of 325 GARC vessels to the U.S. Navy and more than 25,000 hours of documented on-water operations.