India Must Build Many XLUUVs to Protect SSBNs, Carriers, and Patrol Indian Ocean
(sample image) India’s MoD has initiated a project to design and develop Extra Large Unmanned Underwater Vehicles (XLUUV) for Indian Navy to bridge the glaring gap in its underwater capabilities due to significant delays to Project-75I. As per reports, Indian Navy needs up to 12 XLUUVs. But I would say India must operate at least 2 dozen (24) XLUUVs with an endurance of at least 75 days. The XLUUV may reportedly have a maximum ‘length with payload’ of up to 50 meters, a width of up to 5 meters, a height of no more than 10 meters, and gross weight without ballast under 300 tons making it one of the largest submarine drones at par with Germany’s Modifiable Underwater Mothership, US Navy’s Orca XLUUV, and Russia’s Sarma-D, that are in the prototyping phase. The XLUUV is intended for ISR, anti-submarine warfare, anti-surface warfare, and mine warfare. An external payload of up to 10 tons by mounting two 533 mm torpedo tubes and mine laying capability...