Raytheon Achieves Milestone in Development of Barracuda Underwater Mine Hunter

Defense News , World :- Raytheon has successfully reached a significant milestone in the development of the Barracuda countermine device, completing its technical data package. This achievement marks a major step forward in the project that Raytheon has been working on since 2018, funded by an $83-million contract from the US Navy. The deployment of the Barracuda is anticipated in 2026.

The Barracuda is an innovative underwater device designed to search, identify, and destroy mines found on the ocean floor, near the surface, or drifting in the water. A total of 123 Barracudas are in the process of being built, with 63 allocated for contractor trials and 65 for trials conducted by the US Navy, as reported by Seapower.

This Sea Mine-Assassin operates as an expendable, semi-autonomous unmanned vehicle. It is equipped with a kill mechanism, propulsion systems, sensors, and a communications buoy. Using the AN/AQS-20C sonar mine countermeasures mission system, the Barracuda can identify a suspected mine and propel itself using four water jets. The system then receives GPS coordinates through a tethered acoustic communication data link.

With its mounted camera and sonar on the nose, the Barracuda allows human operators to confirm targets, enhancing its efficiency in mine detection and elimination. The completion of the technical data package brings Raytheon one step closer to the successful deployment of this advanced underwater mine hunter.