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The United States Armed Forces (U.S. Navy) will move ahead with the incorporation of 30 medium unmanned surface ships, known as MUSVs (Medium Unmanned Surface Vessels), after completing an initial stage of sea trials. In this regard, the Navy awarded production contracts to three companies and expects to receive the order for the first units before the end of fiscal year 2027.
The MUSVs are part of the Navy’s strategy to expand the use of robotic and autonomous systems as they are platforms that can operate without crew on board and were designed to incorporate different sensors, weapons and other mission payloads according to the needs of each operation.
The decision to move toward production came after a testing phase in which the Navy evaluated the prototypes’ ability to understand the maritime environment, navigate autonomously and carry out extended missions. After obtaining the results, the program moved from the demonstration stage to production.
What are the 30 MUSV autonomous ships?
MUSVs are Medium Unmanned Surface Vessels, that is, medium unmanned surface ships designed to carry out operations without sailors on board and to function as modular platforms.
Among their main characteristics and functions are:
- Autonomous operation: they can navigate without a crew on board and be supervised from control stations.
- Modular design: they can incorporate sensors, weapons and different payloads.
- Different missions: the program includes applications such as anti-submarine warfare, strike operations and intelligence tasks.
- Long endurance at sea: the tests evaluated their ability to carry out extended deployments.
- Autonomous navigation: the prototypes were evaluated to determine whether they could understand the maritime environment and comply with international collision prevention rules.
The Government Accountability Office (GAO) identifies MUSV as a Navy program aimed at developing a family of autonomous systems for various missions.
How much will each MUSV ship cost and who will build them?
The average cost will be US$40 million per unit and production will be divided among three companies:
- Galliano Marine Services: 10 ships
- Huntington Ingalls Industries (HII): 10 ships
- Saronic Technologies: 10 ships
The three companies were selected after taking part in the first phase of testing. Likewise, the contract was carried out through Production Other Transaction Authority (OTA), a mechanism used by the Department of Defense for certain procurement and production agreements.
The Navy also reported that Leidos, PAC MAR and Sea Machines completed their prototype projects, so these companies will receive awards of US$15 million and will be able to participate in future production opportunities within the unmanned systems market in the U.S. Navy.
When will the first MUSV autonomous ships arrive?
The U.S. Navy expects the first units to arrive before the end of fiscal year 2027, since the deadline corresponds to the U.S. fiscal year.
The schedule comes after completing Phase I testing at sea, which made it possible to evaluate the capabilities of the prototypes before moving toward production. In addition, the Navy is already working on a Phase II of integration and testing, aimed at expanding the available operations and evaluating new alternatives for future acquisitions of autonomous systems.