Getting to the Bottom of the Navies' Mine Warfare Challenges
how it responds.Houston said LFBB is both a sensor approach as well as the methodical analysis of data. “We are now doing a lot of onboard processing, so we can take the data and process it on board the vehicle to enable autonomy decision making,” he said.The General Dynamics Mission System Knifefish 21-inch UUV uses the LFBB technology and is the only system currently available that is capable of detecting, classifying and identifying buried mines in a high-clutter environment. Knifefish is a program of record and part of the Littoral Combat Ship (LCS) Mine Countermeasures (MCM) Mission Package
General Dynamics Mission Systems Opens New UUV Manufacturing Site
Systems Unmanned Undersea Vehicle (UUV) Manufacturing and Assembly Center of Excellence.The repurposed manufacturing space at General Dynamics Mission Systems’ Taunton facility will provide manufacturing, assembly, integration and testing capabilities for General Dynamics Mission Systems’ Knifefish and Bluefin Robotics UUVs. Knifefish is a medium-class Mine Countermeasure (MCM) UUV that provides enhanced mine-hunting capability by detecting, classifying and identifying both buried mines and mines in high clutter environments. The company’s family of Bluefin Robotics products consists
GDMS to Retrofit US Navy's Knifefish UUVs
General Dynamics Mission Systems announced Thursday it has been awarded a $72.8 million contract from the U.S. Navy to retrofit five Block 0 Knifefish surface mine countermeasure unmanned underwater vehicle (SMCM UUV) systems, which comprises 10 Knifefish SMCM vehicles. The retrofit requirements will enhance Knifefish operations at deeper depths, identify more complex target environments and provide more precise localization. Once complete, all 10 Knifefish Block 0 UUVs will be upgraded with the new requirements integrated and re-delivered in the Block 1 configuration.Knifefish SMCM is a medium-class
Subsea Defense: Navy Deepens Commitment to Underwater Vehicles
each configuration’s unique requirements and missions.”The Navy would field the MCM variant first – supporting the expeditionary mine countermeasures teams who currently operate the Kingfish. The follow-on deliveries will support the submarine community’s version.The Knifefish UUV has a low-frequency broad band sonar to conduct volume, bottom, and buried minehunting capability for the LCS mine countermeasures (MCM) mission package (MP), and can also be deployed from and vessels of opportunity (VOO). Knifefish is built upon the General Dynamics Mission Systems Bluefin
General Dynamics Mission Systems Wins $13.5 Mln Navy UUV Contract
General Dynamics Mission Systems said it was recently awarded a $13.5 million cost-plus fixed-fee and cost-only modification for continued engineering support, development, test and production of the Knifefish Surface Mine Countermeasure (SMCM) Unmanned Undersea Vehicle (UUV). This award is a modification to the original contract, bringing the post-milestone C phase of the effort to $62.1 million since September 2019.Knifefish SMCM is a medium class mine countermeasure UUV intended for deployment from the Navy's Littoral Combat Ship and other Navy vessels of opportunity. Knifefish SMCM will reduce
USN: Knifefish UUV Program Achieves Milestone
The Program Executive Officer for Unmanned and Small Combatants (PEO USC) granted Milestone C approval to the Knifefish Surface Mine Countermeasure Unmanned Undersea Vehicle Program. The decision clears the way for low-rate initial production (LRIP) of the system, PEO USC announced Aug. 23.The Navy is expected to award a LRIP contract to Knifefish prime contractor General Dynamics Mission Systems.The Knifefish system is designed for deployment from the littoral combat ship (LCS), vessels of opportunity or from shore to detect and classify buried, bottom and volume mines in high-clutter environments.
Knifefish UUV Completes Sea Acceptance Tests
General Dynamics Mission Systems announced its team has completed all stages of formal Sea Acceptance Testing (SAT) of Knifefish, the U.S. Navy's Surface Mine Countermeasure (MCM) Unmanned Undersea Vehicle (UUV) system.Knifefish is a medium-class MCM UUV intended for deployment from the Navy's Littoral Combat Ship and other Navy vessels. The vehicle is designed to reduce risk to personnel by operating in the minefield as an off-board sensor while the host ship stays outside the minefield boundaries.The recent tests were conducted off the coast of Boston using Navy mine test targets and included
GD Mission Systems: Full-throttle Charge toward Autonomy
we’re productizing those now. They existed already in the Bluefin suite, but we’ve taken a hard look from the ground up, re-engineering them to make them modular and cost-friendly, a repeatable, producible device. Then there’s the 21-inch diameter which is the basis for Knifefish. If you had to pick one of the products in the family and tell me what you think has the best near-term potential, which one and why? I would say it’s the 21, as it has been the beneficiary both of the Navy’s investment and our own. It has a lot of payload flexibility
Knifefish UUV Completes Contractor Trials
A specialist team from General Dynamics Mission Systems recently demonstrated the unique capabilities of the Knifefish, a medium-class mine countermeasure (MCM) unmanned undersea vehicle (UUV), during contractor trials for the U.S. Navy. The trials were conducted off the coast of Boston and were managed by General Dynamics Mission Systems, the prime contractor for the Knifefish program. The Knifefish UUV operated in multiple mine test target fields at-sea using buried, bottom and volume type mine-test targets, and demonstrated its ability to detect, classify and identify potential mines at a
August 2026
