Knifefish (robot)

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Knifefish is an autonomous underwater vehicle (UUV) built for the U.S. Navy by General Dynamics Mission Systems and Bluefin Robotics. It’s a torpedo‑shaped minesweeper designed to replace the Navy’s trained dolphins after the Marine Mammal Program ended in 2017. It was first shown in April 2012 and was meant to work with Littoral Combat Ships (LCS) as part of the mine-countermeasures system. The Knifefish is based on the civilian Bluefin-21 UUV.

The robot is 22 feet long, 21 inches in diameter, and weighs about 2,000 pounds. It runs on a lithium‑ion battery and can operate up to 16 hours on a mission. Using onboard synthetic aperture sonar, it can detect floating or buried mines and recognize many types with an onboard database. It marks detected mines and stores their locations, then uploads the data to its parent LCS so the mines can be destroyed. It could be set to transmit data in real time after sea trials if needed.

Each LCS can carry two Knifefish, which scan the seabed near the ship to reduce the risk to the vessel. The Navy is looking at longer endurance so it can cover larger areas. Knifefish is seen as preferable to another system for some tasks, but it needs more endurance to handle large minefields. The Navy is also exploring adding a towed sonar to the CUSV for supporting mine countermeasures.

Development history: by December 2012 the Navy ordered eight units for about $20 million. A critical design review was completed in April 2013, with sea trials planned for 2015 and active service in 2017. Sea acceptance tests finished off Massachusetts in 2018. In 2020 the DoD awarded about $13.5 million for ongoing work. General Dynamics opened a new UUV manufacturing facility in Taunton, Massachusetts in 2021, dedicated to Knifefish and other Bluefin UUVs.