One of my favorite corners in the maritime world is that corner room few people visit, the “Unsexy but Important.”
Taking up some of the space in that corner is one area of naval warfare that the U.S. Navy simply has shrugged at—mining—especially offensive mining.
We don’t have mine layers, really. Not surface ones, and in the aviation and subsurface communities, it is a tertiary mission no one really wants to do. From the air, facing a modern integrated air defense system, putting offensive air-laid minefields up close to the enemy’s Sea Lines of Communication in the number to make an effective field is, well, suicidal.
Yes, our submarines can lay mines…but when you look at the waters around the People’s Republic of China…I’m not sure the juice is worth the squeeze with our HUGE SSN’s to lay a few mines.
SLMMs are a possibility for XLUUV deployment, but given that they can be safely deployed from manned platforms at standoff range, they would likely be kept in reserve for high-risk wartime operations in highly contested areas.
▶︎ Clandestine Delivered Mine (CDM) Little is known of the CDM, but it has been under development for at least five years. The one image of a CDM in circulation suggests that it is a standard bottom mine, and, given its small size (roughly 4.5 feet in length, 1.5 feet in diameter), designed for use in very shallow water, or possibly the surf zone.
The Clandestine Delivered Mine (CDM).
Naval Surface Warfare Center Panama City Annual reports from 2016 and 2017 indicate that the CDM was undergoing integration testing with the Large Displacement UUV (LDUUV), aka Snakehead. While this suggests that the CDM mission set may be different from the deep water mining for which the XLUUV is designed, this doesn’t necessarily rule out deployment from the Orca. In fact, the Navy’s FY2022 budget proposal (PE 0604601N - Mine Development) states that the “Clandestine Delivered Mine (CDM) provides a capability required by Joint Emergent Operational Needs Statement (JEONS) by converting legacy mining systems for delivery by Extra Large Unmanned Undersea Vehicles (XLUUV).”
▶︎ Hammerhead The Hammerhead is a moored, encapsulated torpedo mine, purpose-built for deployment from an XLUUV. With its Mk54 lightweight torpedo, sophisticated sensors, high-density energy module, advanced processing, and acoustic communication capability, the Hammerhead is designed to deploy to the seabed for many weeks or months, awaiting activation to engage Red submarines. In addition to acting as a kinetic effector, a Hammerhead could, in theory, be employed as a sensor. A minefield of Hammerheads could act as an underwater wireless sensor network that is integrated into the larger “Undersea Constellation” and leveraged for distributed ISR or for Distributed Maritime Operations (DMO). More significantly, however, acoustic communication would enable the Hammerhead to be deployed while inactive and remotely activated at the outbreak of armed conflict, thereby complying with international law regarding the mining of international waters during peacetime.
U.S. Navy illustrations of the Hammerhead mine. Note: The illustration on the right features the Mk46 torpedo used in the Hammerhead’s progenitor, the Mk60 CAPTOR mine, however the Hammerhead will utilize the Mk54.
At the moment, the development timetables for the Hammerhead and Orca are largely aligned, with the Hammerhead expected to be fielded in 2023, along with the first two (of an initial run of five) Orcas. But given the technological challenges and inherent complexity of autonomous mine laying operations, delays for Orca are likely, and given that the Hammerhead program will benefit from prior art (the Mk60 CAPTOR) and is a Maritime Accelerated Acquisition (MAA), it is possible that the Hammerhead will be fully tested and in production before the Orcas are ready to join the fleet. Would it be possible, then, to lay Hammerheads using manned systems? It would be a highly risky endeavor in time of war. But what if they could be laid in time of peace, without the need for an XLUUV, and without risk to manned platforms? This could be possible by leveraging acoustic communication, Ohio-class SSGNs, the opaque, gray-zone nature of the undersea domain, and international law.
Knowing all the above—and with my very reactionary, “If you can’t tell me how you can weaponize this three ways in 30 seconds, I don’t think we can be friends.” I was instantly triggered the first time I was briefed about the Orca XLUUV.
I’ve seen her before, but I’ve never seen her weapons bay open. Just look at that well of promise via Naval News.
The U.S. Navy, working with teams from the Program Executive Office for Unmanned Small Combatants (PEO USC), completed the service’s first long-range mission with a Boeing and Huntington Ingalls-built Orca Extra Large Uncrewed Undersea Vehicle (XLUUV). The transit, which took the uncrewed submarine across the East Pacific, finished in July according to a statement released from Rear Admiral Chris Cavanaugh, Commander, U.S. Submarine Force, Pacific Fleet.
The XLUUV patrolled for over 1,000 nautical miles — a first in the program’s history as the Pentagon looks to rapidly ramp up uncrewed operations in the Pacific to supplement crewed aircraft, ships, missile launchers and submarines as major force multipliers.
It isn’t so much how far she is going, but what she’s taking with her.
Orca will deploy with Hunter, a payload for the XLUUV which provides advanced, expeditionary mining capabilities in contested and denied environments. “The Hunter program seeks to develop an innovative concept for the delivery of advanced undersea payloads from extra-large unmanned underwater vehicles (XLUUVs),” DARPA’s website reads. Its acquisition strategy will be formalized in late 2027 or early 2028.
It was nice to see this article from the UK Defence Journal address a well-known issue with all autonomous systems that simply is not talked enough about: What do you do when they break down?
The Ministry of Defence is looking for a system to recover autonomous underwater vehicles that have broken down at sea, capable of lifting a craft up to seven metres long and three tonnes in weight, the department stated in a market engagement notice.
The notice, identifier was published on 18 August 2026. Estimated contract dates run from 1 February 2027 to 1 February 2029, with a tender notice expected around 31 October 2026, and the department says delivery could fall within the 2026/27 financial year subject to funding, approvals and lead times.
It really begs the question: What are we doing now if things don’t come back?
The safety case is set out as the department says the system “is intended to reduce reliance on improvised recovery arrangements and improve operational resilience where the primary recovery system is unavailable or unsuitable. The system should reduce personnel exposure at the vessel edge, help mitigate the risk of person overboard incidents, and reduce the likelihood of damage to the AUV or host vessel.”
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Recovering an uncrewed submersible in a seaway is among the harder routine tasks in maritime autonomy. A vehicle that has lost propulsion cannot position itself alongside, one that has lost communications cannot be commanded to surface at a chosen point, and a three-tonne object moving independently of the ship in a swell is a hazard both to itself and to anyone leaning over the side to catch it. Crews have historically improvised with poles, lines and grapples, which is precisely the practice the department is trying to end.
As we expand our use of sea-based Robotic and Autonomous Systems, we are going to have to retain an ability to salvage those systems that go silent or simply break. As we intend to use these systems at war, we will need a uniformed service to do this, as they will go in harm’s way and will be a target. No civilian contract personnel or USNS will work at war. They will need a basic ability to conduct self defense. I’d recommend SeaRAM, OTO Melara 76mm Super Rapid, and MK 38 Mod 4 25mm RWS.
Time to Make ARS Great Again. The Brits need them. American unquestionably need them.
CDR, always enjoy your topics, highlights and thought-provoking analyses. MK-60 Captor mine was in my portfolio when I managed the Navy weapons budget. Even visited Keyport to see the assembly facility. Then got flown into Canada to see how we tested Mk-48 torpedoes.
I would like to see a cheap long range cruise missle that can fly in very low and fast and drop mines In an enemy harbor. They wouldent need as accurate a system as a tomahawk so they should be able to be cheaper. So say day one in a war with China several hundred fly into each of Chinas harbors and drop bottom mines across the harbor. This ties up the harbor for days or potentially weeks while they clear them.
CDR, always enjoy your topics, highlights and thought-provoking analyses. MK-60 Captor mine was in my portfolio when I managed the Navy weapons budget. Even visited Keyport to see the assembly facility. Then got flown into Canada to see how we tested Mk-48 torpedoes.
I would like to see a cheap long range cruise missle that can fly in very low and fast and drop mines In an enemy harbor. They wouldent need as accurate a system as a tomahawk so they should be able to be cheaper. So say day one in a war with China several hundred fly into each of Chinas harbors and drop bottom mines across the harbor. This ties up the harbor for days or potentially weeks while they clear them.