The company describes LampreyMMAUV as a plug and play platform that can attach to existing surface ships or submarines without requiring host modifications, recharge its batteries using built in hydrogenators, and then proceed into theater ready for operations.
Developed with the US Navy focus on covert assured access and sea denial, the vehicle is intended to support missions ranging from intelligence gathering and surveillance to strike and seabed operations, offering commanders an additional tool for undersea warfare.
Lockheed Martin says LampreyMMAUV can deliver both kinetic and non kinetic effects in the undersea and air domains, perform intelligence, surveillance, reconnaissance and targeting tasks, collect multiple types of intelligence, and deploy equipment or payloads to the seafloor.
Company executives position the system as a response to evolving maritime threats, emphasizing attributes such as stealth, autonomy and adaptability to help forces operate and survive in heavily contested environments.
"The modern battlespace demands platforms that hide, adapt and dominate," said Paul Lemmo, vice president and general manager of Sensors, Effectors and Mission Systems at Lockheed Martin.
"LampreyMMAUV was internally funded, letting us iterate at lightning speed and hand the Navy a true multi mission weapon that detects, disrupts, decoys and engages on its own," Lemmo added.
A key feature highlighted by the company is the vehicle ability to hitch a ride on a host ship or submarine, recharge during transit, and then detach for operations, which Lockheed Martin compares to a nature inspired approach to extending range and endurance.
The payload bay is described as open architecture and payload centric, allowing customers to integrate a variety of payloads, including anti submarine torpedoes and unmanned aerial vehicle launchers, to tailor the system for specific mission profiles.
The dual mode mission concept allows the same platform to support assured access roles such as stealthy intelligence collection, persistent surveillance and precision strike, as well as sea denial roles including electronic disruption, decoy deployment and kinetic attack.
By relying on autonomy and modular payloads, LampreyMMAUV is intended to provide persistent undersea presence at lower cost than comparable manned platforms, while offering a degree of flexibility in how and where it is deployed.
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