United Kingdom Defense Maritime Submarine Hulls

The Royal Navy is searching for innovative ways to clean the hulls of its submarines, and is requesting ideals from industry and academia from across the Technology Readiness Level (TRL) spectrum. The goal is to mitigate the negative impact of biofouling on a submarine’s signature and performance. 

Over time submarines accumulate biological material on their hulls. This has an undesirable impact on the submarine’s sensors, as well as its ability to avoid detection and move at speed. Efficient and effective ways of cleaning (de-fouling) the hull will mitigate these effects and ensure that the submarine can function at maximum capability. 

The Royal Navy’s investigation into technical solutions to the problem of biofouling is open to mechanical and chemical methods of cleaning, or novel ways of detecting and classifying different types of biological material.

The Royal Navy is specifically looking for solutions that:

•    Can deal with the complex hull geometry and often small surface areas of submarine structures.
•    Do not damage or interfere with the purpose of acoustic tiles or sensor arrays.
•    Are environmentally compliant and do not pose a wider risk to the natural environment.

De-fouling could be undertaken when the submarine is at sea or docked in port. If your solution is to be used while the submarine is at sea, it should be battery powered and no larger than 1.5m x 1m x 0.5m. It would be advantageous if solutions were easily transportable, allowing them to be used without complex base infrastructure support. If your idea could also apply to de-fouling a surface vessel, please also state this in your submission.

The Royal Navy is not looking for ideals that rely on:

•    Coatings on the hull.
•    Diver based solutions.
•    Anything that requires the submarine to be in dry dock.

The Royal Navy desires a better understanding of current market capability that will inform its decisions on how best to preserve a battle-winning edge for its submarine fleet and support its efforts to reduce the environmental impact of the Royal Navy. 

For information on how to submit your concept to the Royal Navy to help them identify and develop innovative ways to clean submarine hulls, or for information on other opportunities in the UK defense and security market, please contact PJ Menner at the U.S. Embassy London.