General Dynamics Wins $45M for US Navy’s Knifefish Autonomous Undersea Vehicle

General Dynamics has a $44.6 million modification contract for low-rate initial production of the US Navy’s Surface Mine Countermeasure Unmanned Undersea Vehicle (SMCM UUV), also known as Knifefish.

The Knifefish program is an ongoing effort to provide a UUV that detects and classifies undersea volume, bottom and buried mines in high-clutter environments.  The Knifefish system is part of the Littoral Combat Ship Mine Countermeasures Mission Package and can also be deployed from vessels of opportunity. 

The low-rate initial production effort will provide the initial systems for the Navy to test and operate. 

Work is expected to be completed by August 2021.