CAMP
US Navy programme to develop a next-generation extra-large uncrewed underwater vehicle.
On 15 July 2026 the US Defense Innovation Unit picked Norway's Kongsberg Discovery and Oceaneering International to design CAMP, its next-generation extra-large uncrewed underwater vehicle, with concept plans due in the third quarter of 2026.
Last refreshed: 24 July 2026 · Appears in 1 active topic
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Autonomous Systems: Land & SeaBackground
CAMP, the Combat Autonomous Maritime Platform, is a US Defense Innovation Unit programme to design a next-generation extra-large uncrewed underwater vehicle.
It runs through the Defense Innovation Unit rather than a traditional prime contractor route: DIU is the Pentagon's fast-acquisition Arm, built to pull commercial and non-traditional suppliers into defence programmes rather than relying solely on established US primes. CAMP's design brief weights modularity and interoperability, so a single vehicle can be reconfigured to carry different payloads across missions.
As a concept-stage programme without a manufacturing contract yet, CAMP sits alongside the AUKUS Pillar II timeline for autonomous undersea warfare as a comparable, and potentially competing, design effort rather than a fielded system.
CAMP breaks the domestic-supplier pattern
The Defense Innovation Unit selected Kongsberg Discovery and Oceaneering International on 15 July 2026 to lead concept and system design for CAMP, with a design milestone due in the third quarter of 2026.
Handing the lead to a Norwegian-led team breaks the assumption that the US Navy's next-generation seabed hardware stays domestic, and puts CAMP alongside, and potentially in competition with, the AUKUS Pillar II timeline for autonomous undersea warfare. Its design brief weights modularity and interoperability so the resulting vehicle can carry different payloads across missions rather than one fixed role.
What is the Combat Autonomous Maritime Platform programme?
Who is designing the CAMP XLUUV for the US Navy?
When is the CAMP design due?
Why did the US Navy pick a Norwegian company to design its submarine drone?
