Navy to buy 30 medium unmanned surface vessels after Phase I at-sea testing

The U.S. Navy plans to buy 30 Medium Unmanned Surface Vessels after completing initial at-sea trials, advancing a program intended to add more distributed, lower-risk capability to the fleet.

Production awards using Other Transaction Authority were issued to Galliano Marine Services, HII, and Saronic Technologies. Each company will deliver 10 vessels at an average procurement cost of $40 million apiece, with the first units expected to arrive before the end of fiscal 2027, according to the Navy. Based on the figures released, the procurement package totals about $1.2 billion, not including integration and sustainment.

In a parallel move, Leidos, PAC MAR, and Sea Machines were deemed to have completed their prototype agreements and will receive $15 million each under previously set terms. Those firms, along with the production awardees, are being added to the Drones.mil Maritime Marketplace, making them eligible for follow-on production agreements from authorized buyers through that portal.

“Our warfighters don’t have time to wait on bureaucracy while our adversaries pace forward,” said Acting Secretary of the Navy Hung Cao. “Our message to the defense industrial base is simple: build fast, deliver on time, and match the urgency of the threat. This MUSV award is a prime example of how we are streamlining acquisitions to ensure our Sailors and Marines have the capabilities they need to fight, win, and come home safe.”

The Navy said Phase I testing assessed core functions such as onboard perception of the maritime Environment, autonomous navigation in line with international collision-avoidance rules, and the ability to sustain long-duration missions. Building on those results, the service on Sept. 23 issued a Phase II Integration and Testing Call for Solutions meant to expand the supplier base and align future systems with emerging mission needs.

“MUSVs are an important part of the hedge strategy laid out in our U.S. Navy Fighting Instructions. They give commanders a Tailored Offset — additional capacity and capability that can be rapidly adapted to the threat, distributed across the battlespace, and placed at risk without placing Sailors at unnecessary risk,” said the Chief of Naval Operations. “Just as importantly, MUSVs give us a platform for rapidly integrating new sensors, weapons, and other mission payloads as technology and operational requirements change. This is about moving beyond experimentation and putting reliable, combat-relevant capability into the hands of our Sailors at the speed the Fleet requires.”

The program is being structured to accelerate fielding through the Direct Reporting Program Manager for Robotic and Autonomous Systems. Working with the Robotic and Autonomous Systems Warfighting Development Center, that office will oversee fleet integration while tactics, training, and operational concepts are refined. The Navy also pointed to its Containerized Capability Campaign as a pathway to quickly add sensors, autonomous systems, and other payloads to the unmanned hulls, allowing commanders to tailor effects to specific missions.

The use of OTA agreements underscores the department’s push to move faster on unmanned systems, a procurement approach that can draw in nontraditional vendors and shorten timelines compared with standard contracting. While OTAs have become a common tool across the Pentagon for prototyping and early production, they also attract scrutiny on oversight and long-term sustainment planning, particularly as programs scale.

The Navy did not detail specific payloads or mission packages for the medium USVs in this tranche, but service leaders have repeatedly framed unmanned surface craft as key enablers for distributed maritime operations—able to carry sensors, communications nodes, and potentially weapons while reducing risk to crews and complicating an adversary’s targeting.

Industry interest in unmanned surface systems has grown in recent years, with both established shipbuilders and smaller autonomy specialists vying for roles as the Navy shifts from experimentation to production. Placing multiple vendors on the Maritime Marketplace is intended to keep competition active for future increments and payload integrations.

Additional information on the Navy’s unmanned programs and acquisition efforts is available at drpmras.navy.mil.