Humanoid & robot atlas
Orca XLUUV
Photo: U.S. Navy photo by Chief Mass Communication Specialist William Spears, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons
Pilot useUnited States#13 in public attentionFully autonomous

Boeing · underwater vehicle

Orca XLUUV

A 16 m (up to 26 m with a payload module) uncrewed submarine that carries out missions of several months by itself without a host ship, running on batteries submerged and recharging by diesel on the surface. The Navy has outlined mine-laying, surveillance and electronic warfare roles.

Price
—Five Orca prototypes and related support units under contract awards totalling $274.4 million (Washington Technology, 2019)
Autonomy
DriverlessHow it runs
Driverless
TestingSince 2023-12
Fleet
5Reported; details below
Speed
14.8 km/hFaster than 67%
Payload
8000 kgToo few to rank
Compare

Why it matters

The US Navy's first extra-large uncrewed submarine ordered for operational use.

Real-world use

Navy ordered four in February 2019 and a fifth in March 2019; Boeing delivered the first in December 2023 after acceptance testing.

Timeline

First shown
2019-02
Released
2023-12
US Navy contract for four vehicles

Maker

BoeingCompany

How it drives

Fleet and city figures move fast; each carries its date and who reported it.

Driverless status
Driverless tests only
Where it runs
US Navy test ranges (Southern California)
Driverless since
2023-12
Fleet
5 ordered, first delivered Dec 2023 (Naval News); later deliveries not confirmed

How it stacks up

Against other underwater that publish the figure. Pick a measure.

  1. Orca XLUUVBoeing with Huntington Ingalls Industries · 202314.8 km/h
  2. REMUS 620HII Mission Technologies · 202214.8 km/h
  3. Echo VoyagerBoeing · 201614.4 km/h
  4. Boaty McBoatface (Autosub Long Range)National Oceanography Centre · 20173.6 km/h

Orca XLUUV is faster than 67% of the 3 other underwater that publish a speed. Bars show the 3 closest in date.

Speed 14.8 km/h 3.6 km/h14.8 km/h #1 of 4 · faster than 67%

Not published by the maker: height, weight, joints, battery, price.

Public attention

#13 of 215 current vehicles in public attention.

28of 100
  • 6,417 views of its Wikipedia article in the last 90 days (Orca (AUV))
  • No recent press stories listed yet

Measures how much people read and write about a robot, not how good it is. Measured 2026-10-13; same method for every robot. How it is measured

What’s inside

No component details published yet.

Movement
Other movement
How it runs
Fully autonomous. Does its job with nobody at the controls.

Lineage

Every Boeing with Huntington Ingalls Industries vehicle in order.

  1. Echo VoyagerEcho Voyager2016Prototype
  2. Orca XLUUVOrca XLUUV2019Pilot use
  3. MQ-25 StingrayMQ-25 Stingray2019Prototype

Made, sold and where

No production or sales figures published yet.

Price
Not publishedFive Orca prototypes and related support units under contract awards totalling $274.4 million (Washington Technology, 2019)
How to get one
No official buying page found

Sources

Figures come from press coverage. Every link below backs something on this page.

Boeing XLUUV — Orca Naval News Boeing delivers first Orca XLUUV to U.S. Navy

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