As modern warfare evolves at breakneck speed across land and air domains, the silent depths of the world’s oceans are rapidly becoming the next decisive frontier. The Russia-Ukraine War has already demonstrated how unmanned systems can transform battlefields, with Ukrainian unmanned surface vehicles (USVs) striking Russian warships, damaging naval aviation assets, and challenging traditional sea control concepts. Now, undersea drones are poised to drive a similar revolution beneath the waves.
Lockheed Martin has unveiled its latest entry into this emerging contest: the Lamprey Multi-Mission Autonomous Undersea Vehicle (MMAUV), a robotic submersible that the company describes as a breakthrough “plug-and-play” system designed to give U.S. and allied forces a technological and strategic edge in contested maritime environments.
Unlike conventional unmanned underwater vehicles (UUVs) that must be launched from dedicated platforms and operate with limited endurance, the Lamprey introduces a novel and striking capability. It can physically latch onto friendly ships or submarines, hitch a ride to distant theaters of operation, recharge its batteries during transit, and detach fully powered and mission-ready.
The concept signals a dramatic shift in how navies may deploy undersea drones in the future — not as standalone assets with fixed range limits, but as modular, parasitic force multipliers embedded within larger fleets.
The Lamprey derives its name from the jawless “vampire fish” known for attaching itself to larger marine animals to feed or hitch rides across long distances. Lockheed Martin’s engineers have translated that biological behavior into a military capability.
The MMAUV is equipped with suction cups or a specialized docking mechanism that allows it to attach directly to the hulls of surface ships or submarines. Crucially, this attachment requires no structural modification to the host platform — a design choice that could significantly simplify integration into existing fleets.
By latching onto a larger vessel, the Lamprey conserves its own propulsion energy while transiting to operational areas. During the journey, built-in hydrogenerators — effectively underwater turbo-generators — convert water flow into electrical energy, recharging its batteries. The result is a drone that can arrive in theater with a fully charged power supply, ready to execute surveillance or strike missions.
“Built with the U.S. Navy’s need for covert, assured access and sea denial operations, LampreyMMAUV can arrive in theater with a fully charged battery,” Lockheed Martin said in a press release. “Mimicking nature, it can hitch a ride on a host surface vessel or submarine, utilize hydrogenerators to charge batteries, and arrive in theater ready for operational missions.”
This ability to travel stealthily without expending onboard energy addresses one of the longstanding limitations of autonomous underwater vehicles: endurance.
The Lamprey’s highly modular architecture is central to its appeal. With an open-architecture design and a 24-cubic-foot payload bay, the MMAUV can accommodate a wide variety of mission systems tailored to specific operational requirements.
According to Lockheed Martin, the platform can deliver both kinetic and non-kinetic effects undersea and in the air. Its payload options include lightweight anti-submarine torpedoes, decoys, intelligence sensors, and even launch systems for aerial drones.
The company’s computer-generated demonstration video shows the Lamprey surfacing briefly, extending a retractable mast, and transmitting targeting data to an F-35 Joint Strike Fighter flying overhead. The F-35 then launches a missile at an enemy ship — illustrating how the MMAUV could serve as a forward sensor node in a distributed kill chain.
In this role, the Lamprey mirrors the concept of “loyal wingman” drones that accompany advanced fighter jets. Just as airborne wingmen venture into high-risk airspace to gather intelligence and protect manned aircraft, the Lamprey can operate ahead of larger naval vessels in contested waters, conducting reconnaissance, surveillance, and potentially offensive strikes.
“The modern battlespace demands platforms that hide, adapt, and dominate,” said Paul Lemmo, vice president and general manager of Sensors, Effectors & Mission Systems at Lockheed Martin.
One of the Lamprey’s most distinctive features is its capacity to deploy aerial drones from underwater positions. Based on released information, the MMAUV can be fitted with three retractable twin-tube launchers capable of carrying up to six aerial drones.
These unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) could be configured for kinetic strikes or non-kinetic missions such as electronic warfare and surveillance. By launching UAVs from unexpected maritime locations, commanders could introduce a new layer of operational surprise.
In contested regions — such as the Western Pacific, the Arctic, or narrow chokepoints — the ability to deploy aerial reconnaissance assets from beneath the sea could complicate adversaries’ detection and targeting strategies.
The Lamprey can also deploy sonobuoys, passive radio-frequency (RF) detection systems, and advanced sonar arrays for multi-intelligence collection. These capabilities position it as both a sensor platform and a strike asset.
When equipped with lightweight torpedoes, the MMAUV can conduct anti-submarine warfare (ASW) missions, targeting enemy submarines while remaining difficult to detect itself.
Beyond its hitchhiking capability and modular payload options, the Lamprey introduces another operational innovation: the ability to loiter quietly on the seabed.
In this mode, the drone can remain dormant, minimizing acoustic and electromagnetic signatures while gathering intelligence. It can wait patiently for a high-value target — such as an enemy submarine or surface combatant — before launching torpedoes, drones, or decoys.
Such persistent undersea presence aligns with emerging concepts of seabed warfare, where control of subsea infrastructure, communication cables, and chokepoints is increasingly seen as strategically critical.
The drone’s quad-thruster propulsion system — consisting of two rear propellers and two side-mounted thrusters — provides maneuverability in complex underwater environments. An onboard autonomous computer suite allows it to execute pre-programmed missions or adapt to changing operational conditions.
For communication, the Lamprey features a retractable mast capable of surface and subsea transmissions. This enables it to relay intelligence to friendly ships, submarines, or aircraft, integrating seamlessly into network-centric warfare architectures.
Lockheed Martin frames the Lamprey’s mission sets under two primary operational concepts: Assured Access and Sea Denial.
Assured Access refers to stealthy intelligence gathering, persistent surveillance, and precision strike capabilities that allow friendly forces to operate freely in contested waters. Sea Denial, on the other hand, encompasses electronic disruption, decoy deployment, and kinetic attacks designed to prevent adversaries from using maritime space effectively.
By combining these roles in a single modular platform, the Lamprey offers commanders flexibility. It can gather intelligence one day and execute offensive operations the next, depending on payload configuration.
The drone can also generate virtual decoys to confuse enemy sensors, drawing hostile forces off-target and protecting higher-value assets. In a future maritime conflict where sensor fusion and rapid targeting cycles dominate, such deception capabilities could prove decisive.
The unveiling of the Lamprey comes amid growing recognition of how unmanned systems have reshaped naval warfare.
In the Black Sea, Ukrainian USVs have demonstrated that relatively low-cost autonomous platforms can threaten larger, more expensive warships. Russian naval forces have had to adapt their tactics, reposition vessels, and increase defensive measures in response to persistent unmanned attacks.
While those engagements primarily involved surface drones, they underscored a broader lesson: distributed, unmanned platforms can challenge traditional naval dominance.
Undersea drones like the Lamprey take this concept further. Operating below the surface, they are inherently harder to detect and intercept. When deployed in numbers, they could saturate enemy defenses, complicate anti-submarine warfare operations, and expand surveillance coverage across vast ocean areas.
Perhaps the most strategically significant aspect of the Lamprey is its mothership model.
Any surface combatant or submarine capable of accommodating the MMAUV could theoretically transport multiple units to operational areas. Once within stand-off range, the host platform could release the drones to conduct independent missions.
After completing their tasks, the Lampreys could potentially reattach to the host for recovery and redeployment. This creates a distributed network of undersea assets without requiring dedicated UUV carriers.
In remote or denied environments — such as the South China Sea’s contested waters or the Arctic’s emerging sea lanes — this flexibility could prove invaluable.
Large ships often face increased risk from anti-ship missiles, mines, and submarines. By sending smaller autonomous systems ahead, navies can reduce exposure while maintaining situational awareness and strike options.
While Lockheed Martin has not disclosed detailed performance specifications — including speed, operational depth, or maximum range — the Lamprey’s concept alone highlights a broader transformation underway in naval doctrine.
Modern maritime competition increasingly emphasizes distributed operations, survivability, and sensor dominance. Instead of relying solely on large, capital-intensive platforms, future fleets may consist of networks of manned and unmanned systems working collaboratively.
In the Indo-Pacific, where vast distances and contested waters define strategic calculations, such systems could expand coverage without proportionally increasing fleet size.
For allies operating alongside the United States, a plug-and-play undersea drone that requires no hull modifications could ease adoption and interoperability.
The unveiling of the Lamprey MMAUV underscores how stealthy, compact, and highly adaptable unmanned systems are shaping the next era of maritime security.
As global powers invest heavily in anti-access/area denial (A2/AD) capabilities, navies are seeking ways to penetrate defended zones without risking major assets. Autonomous underwater vehicles capable of reconnaissance, strike, deception, and communication offer a compelling answer.
By blending biological inspiration with advanced robotics, Lockheed Martin has introduced a system that challenges conventional thinking about naval deployment and endurance.
If successfully integrated into operational fleets, the Lamprey could become a cornerstone of future seabed warfare strategies — extending sensor reach, multiplying combat power, and complicating adversaries’ defensive calculations.
In a world where control of the seas increasingly depends on who can see first and strike first, the silent hitchhiker beneath the waves may prove to be one of the most consequential innovations of the next maritime era.
