Navy to procure 30 robotic ships at an average cost of $40M per vessel
The Navy intends to procure 30 medium unmanned surface vessels from three vendors at an average cost of $40 million per platform, the sea service announced this week, part of a broader effort to ramp up its arsenal of robotic capabilities.
Galliano Marine Services, HII and Saronic Technologies were each awarded other transaction agreements to produce 10 MUSVs in the wake of “successful at sea testing,” according to a press release from the Navy’s direct reporting program manager for robotic and autonomous systems. Initial deliveries under the deals are slated to occur before the end of fiscal 2027.
The companies’ platforms were tested at sea to assess their “core capabilities,” including “their ability to see and understand the surrounding maritime environment, how well the vessels navigate autonomously according to International Regulations for Preventing Collisions at Sea, and the vessel’s ability to conduct a long-duration mission,” officials wrote in the press release.
The planned acquisition of the 30 robotic ships at a total cost of more than $1 billion will support Chief of Naval Operations Adm. Daryl Caudle’s “Hedge Strategy” that includes a major role for uncrewed systems and enabling technologies like AI.
“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,” Caudle said in a statement. “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 press release noted that three other vendors — Leidos, PacMar Technologies and Sea Machines — will also receive $15 million awards under the previously established terms of their prototype other transaction agreements. Those companies will also be included in the maritime marketplace hosted on the Drones.mil website, which was launched to streamline the acquisition process for unmanned systems. The sea drone makers in the marketplace are eligible to receive follow-on production agreements “from authorized acquisition authorities” across the Defense Department, per the release.
The announcement of the production OTA awards to Galliano Marine Services, HII and Saronic Technologies following “Phase I” at-sea testing came less than a week after the Navy released a call for solutions for a “Phase II” effort and also announced the establishment of a Robotic and Autonomous Systems Warfighting Development Center (RASWDC) at Joint Expeditionary Base Little Creek in Virginia that’s expected to play a major role in shaping how the sea service fights with uncrewed systems.
