US Navy unveils first ever undersea ‘Orca’ drone

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.