A free flooded section of an unmanned undersea vehicle (UUV) contains a rotating cylindrical drum, which serves as a spool for a towed line array cable. At the end of the cable is a reverse thruster with the ability to propel itself away from the UUV when the UUV is submerged. The thruster moves away from the UUV, pulling the cable and unspooling it as it does so in order to deploy the array. To recover the array, the cylindrical drum rotates to reel in the cable. The cable is guided through a series of winding guides that allow the cable to be wound evenly on the drum.