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NavSource Online: Submarine Photo Archive

ASDS

Advanced SEAL Delivery System

As built to the specifications: Length: 65 feet Displacement: 60 tons; Capacity: More than 5, plus gear; Speed: More than 5 knots; Depth: 200+ feet; Range: 100+ nautical miles.

Introduction from the Chief of Naval Operations Submarine Warfare Division and Northrop/Grumman.
The Advanced SEAL Delivery System (ASDS) was designed to reduce the risk to Navy Special Operations forces (SEALs) when required the transit from a submarine to shore.
ASDS is a manned combatant mini-submarine capable of delivering SEAL personnel and their equipment stealthily in a high threat environment.
ASDS permits long-range special forces operations.
It also enhances the effectiveness of the insertion teams by delivering them to their destination rested and better equipped as well as the means of conducting shore surveillance prior to landing.
The ASDS can be carried by six specifically modified LOS ANGELES Class SSNs, all VIRGINIA Class SSNs, and also SSGNs (if SSGNs are made operational).
ASDS can be carried in a C-5A or C-17 aircraft atop its specially designed tractor-trailer transport to a forward location to meet up with a host submarine.
ASDS is a highly sophisticated dry vehicle with far greater performance capability than its predecessors

Size	Image Description	Source By
108k	*SDV* (SEAL Delivery Vehicle), a Navy submersible used for covert operations, being made ready for delivery to its mother vehicle.	Courtesy of fas.org.
40k	Port side view of *ASDS* Advanced SEAL Delivery System (ASDS) underway, off the coast of Pearl Harbor, Hawaii, July 1, 2003.	Courtesy of capitol.northgrum.com.
46k	Divers outside a SSGN with a *ASDS* in the background.	Courtesy of chinfo.navy.mil.
29k	Divers ascending from a *ASDS* .	Courtesy of chinfo.navy.mil.
271k	The Los Angeles-class submarine Greeneville (SSN-772) recently completed sea testing for the Advanced SEAL Delivery System (ASDS) off the coast of Pearl Harbor, Hawaii, July 1, 2003. ASDS is an 65 foot mini-submarine, which rides attached to the top of a much larger Los Angeles Class submarine. It has increased range, speed, and capacity over the current SEAL Delivery Vehicle which is an open, wet submersible, that transports SEALs in scuba gear, exposing them longer to the elements. The ASDS mini-submarine is operated by a crew of two and can carry eight SEAL team members. The vessel is connected to the host ship via a watertight hatch, and has a sophisticated sonar and a hyperbaric recompression chamber.	USN photo # N-0000X-005, courtesy of news.navy.mil.
234k	Starboard side view of the Los Angeles-class submarine Greeneville (SSN-772) recently completed sea testing for the Advanced SEAL Delivery System (ASDS) off the coast of Pearl Harbor, Hawaii, July 1, 2003.	USN photo # N-0000X-001, courtesy of news.navy.mil.
42k	A rare view of the 65-foot Advance SEAL Delivery System vehicle *ASDS* , the latest Navy submersible used for covert operations and assigned to SEAL Delivery Vehicle Team 1 at the Pearl City peninsula, May 30, 2004.	Courtesy of Honolulu Star-Bulletin Hawaii News
32k	Cutout of the *ASDS* .	Courtesy of fas.org.

Additional Resources and Web Sites of Interest
ASDS, The Future of Submarine Based Special Operations
NORTHROP GRUMMAN ADVANCED SEAL DELIVERY SYSTEM (ASDS) SUCCESSFULLY PASSES TWO CRITICAL MILESTONES
ASDS - One MINISUB, Many Roles

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