UK sets IOC goal for submarine AUV launch and recovery capability

Project Scylla testing in May 2025 demonstrated the launch and recovery of an Iver4 900 medium AUV from HMS Astute . (Royal Navy/Crown Copyright)

A torpedo tube launch and recovery (TTL&R) autonomous underwater vehicle (AUV) system is planned to achieve initial operating capability (IOC) on UK Royal Navy (RN) Astute-class nuclear-powered attack submarines (SSNs)during the 2026–27 financial year, the Ministry of Defence (MoD) has disclosed.

Known as Project Scylla, the TTL&R AUV capability will support AUKUS Pillar 2 objectives “by providing submarines with deployable autonomous vehicles capable of seabed warfare, intelligence operations, and covert surveillance missions”, the MoD said in a 1 October case study bulletin on anti-submarine warfare (ASW) testbeds funded through the ASW Spearhead programme. Trials of the TTL&R AUV technical solution have already been completed from an Astute-class boat.

Project Scylla is intended to confer SSNs with the ability to launch and recover an AUV through a standard 533 mm torpedo tube while moving and submerged. “The vehicle is designed to be launched then autonomously conduct missions and recover itself back into a submarine torpedo tube, enhancing submarine capabilities without requiring platform modifications,” the MoD said.

First at-sea testing of Project Scylla was performed from an unidentified Astute-class SSN in December 2024. A second set of tests – including successful TTL&R AUV launch and recovery operations – was undertaken from HMS Astute in May 2025 while the submarine was operating in the Mediterranean.

Project Scylla, which is being delivered by the Submarine Delivery Agency's Autonomy Unit in partnership with L3Harris, is using an Iver4 900 medium AUV. “[This] features a modular mid-section, which allows mission-specific payload configurations,” the MoD said.