US Navy unveils first ever undersea ‘Orca’ drone

LOS ANGELES - For the first time ever, the U.S. navy has unveiled an undersea drone formally known as the Orca Extra Large Unmanned Undersea Vehicle (XLUUV).

The military vehicle was showcased in a social media post by the Navy’s Naval Sea Systems Command (NAVSEA).

The drone is the product of the Orca project, a military contract awarded to Boeing in a deal valued at approximately $274 million. The project first began in 2019 and includes the delivery of five similar unmanned submarines. 

NAVSEA said the Orca program was created to address "joint warfighting needs with a sense of urgency," 

"The vehicle has more than 2,500 hours of ocean testing. Echo Voyager completed its first phase of sea testing – or Alpha sea trials – in 2017 when it operated off the coast of Southern California for about three months to undergo system evaluations and testing," a Boeing spokesperson said.