The U.S. Navy announced on July 29 that it is seeking a payload launcher capable of supporting a wider variety of payloads for its future attack submarines, according to a public solicitation. The Director of Submarine Programs issued the interest notice ahead of an industry day scheduled for September 29‑30 in Alexandria, Virginia, where representatives from General Dynamics Electric Boat and Huntington Ingalls Industries’ Newport News Shipbuilding will present concepts. The Navy said the launcher must enable payloads to be launched and recovered while the boat is underway, allow secure data exchange with the host vessel, and be rechargeable and maintainable while embarked, with designs focused on producibility and sustainment. Although unmanned underwater vessels were not named in the solicitation, attributes for supporting such equipment were highlighted. The interest comes as the Navy develops the Next‑Generation Attack Submarine (SSN(X)) and modernizes the Virginia‑class fleet, which are intended to increase speed and payload capacity to counter growing undersea threats. U.S. Navy intelligence expects the People’s Liberation Army Navy Submarine Force to shift toward a majority nuclear‑powered fleet. At the Rim of the Pacific 2026 exercise, the Navy demonstrated drones launched from attack boats to extend sensing range against undersea and surface targets, providing targeting data and acting as force multipliers that enhance stealth and efficiency for manned platforms. Defense contractors have also proposed cheaper autonomous torpedoes, additional underwater drones, smaller torpedoes, and next‑generation anti‑submarine mines to improve attack boat firepower and surveillance.