Program Summary

After being laid up for five years inside the Hughes Mining Barge (HMB-1), Sea Shadow was reactivated by Lockheed Martin ATL and TS in 1999 as a technology test platform for industry, government, and military organizations to demonstrate advanced naval technologies and special operations. The goal for program manager Naval Sea Systems Command (NAVSEA) is to support risk reduction for next-generation technologies for future Navy ship designs like DD (X) and concepts for the Navy After Next. Already, Sea Shadow has influenced designs of the Navy's Arleigh Burke and T-AGOS class ships.

Built by Lockheed Martin in the 1980s, Sea Shadow was assembled in complete secrecy. Parts from different manufacturers were brought to Redwood City, CA, and assembled inside the HMB-1, a fully enclosed, submersible dock. Until 1993, Sea Shadow remained an unacknowledged program to test technologies in automated ship control, advanced structures, crew reduction, sea keeping, and stealth.

ATL Role and Enabling Technology

ATL is NAVSEA's contractor program manager and Lockheed Martin Technical Services-San Diego operates and maintains the vessel.

Today, NAVSEA expects Sea Shadow to help demonstrate and validate new concepts in survivability, automation, information technologies and stealth. Various companies from the aerospace/defense industries, multiple Navy commands, DARPA, and the U.S. Customs Department have been among those who have recently demonstrated technologies aboard Sea Shadow. The Sea Shadow operated with U.S. Navy Third Fleet in 1999 during Fleet Battle Experiment (FBE) Echo and in other operations during FBE Hotel in 2000, during which Sea Shadow tested various command and control technologies, special forces operations, and stealth. As an advanced technology demonstrator, Sea Shadow is a highly efficient platform that can host projects requiring interface with fully functional shipboard systems and personnel in a highly automated command and control environment. The testing infrastructure can be modified quickly and operated cost effectively. Significant onboard automation allows Sea Shadow to operate around the clock with just a crew of eight.

Prior to its inactivation in 1995, Sea Shadow demonstrated a number of advanced technologies, including high-performance distributed computing and artificial intelligence applications for combat systems, ship control, and advanced communication.