REMUS 620 UUV conducts successful torpedo tube swimout and recovery

A joint team from Huntington Ingalls Industries (HII), Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution (WHOI), and the US Navy’s Naval Undersea Warfare Center (NUWC) Division Newport has successfully completed the first recovery of a second-generation REMUS 620 unmanned underwater vehicle (UUV) into a Virginia-class submarine torpedo tube and shutterway test fixture at Seneca Lake, New York, HII announced on 6 October 2025.

This milestone, achieved less than seven months after integrating WHOI’s Yellow Moray torpedo tube launch and recovery (TTL&R) technology into the REMUS 620 medium UUV, marks a major step forward in the US Navy Submarine Force’s efforts to launch and recover autonomous undersea vehicles from submarine torpedo tubes.

An in-water test by the joint team confirmed the ability of the REMUS 620 to conduct complex autonomous navigational and communication protocols in safely docking with the shock and fire enclosure capsule (SAFECAP) loaded into a submerged Virginia-class submarine fixture. The REMUS 620 also successfully demonstrated reverse swimout launch and safe separation during this test period.

The REMUS (Remote Environmental Monitoring UnitS) series of UUVs were developed by WHOI’s Oceanographic Systems Lab (OSL) and have been manufactured by Kongsberg Maritime’s US subsidiary Hydroid Inc, which was acquired by HII in March 2020.

“This successful docking validates the research and development investments and efforts of HII, specifically the REMUS 620 engineers working in close co-operation with our WHOI teammates,” Duane Fotheringham, president of the Unmanned Systems group in HII’s Mission Technologies division, was quoted as saying in an HII press release. “We leveraged WHOI’s previous three years of TTL&R work, lessons learned, and expertise to greatly accelerate our progress in successfully getting to this important milestone.”

Carl Hartsfield, director and senior programme manager at the OSL, added, “Despite a highly compressed schedule, our teams rapidly conducted testing runs, quickly evaluated the data and made substantive adjustments to the vehicle. This is a real testament to the teamwork and professionalism between our three organisations. The REMUS 620 team’s thorough preparation working hand in hand with our technical experts at the OSL in advance was clear during all phases of the successful testing. We were also extremely impressed with the Seneca Lake NUWC support provided throughout the test schedule.”