Navy to brief industry on plans for new robotic ship program

The Navy is getting ready to brief contractors on the service’s vision, objectives, program schedule and technical requirements for a new unmanned surface vessel that can carry containerized payloads.

Robotic platforms not only keep sailors out of harm’s way, but they provide opportunities to expand the sea service’s warfighting capacity faster and at less cost than building traditional Navy vessels. They’re a key element of Project 33 and the CNO Navigation Plan that was released last year.

Plans for the upcoming industry engagement, slated for June 17-18 in the Washington metro area, were laid out in a special notice posted Friday on Sam.gov.

“The Future USV program will be an open ocean, 25+ knot, high endurance, non-exquisite, autonomous vessel. The vessel will be built to commercial standards and will provide the interfaces, payload deck area, and support for two forty-foot equivalent unit (FEU) containerized payloads, each weighing 80,000 [pounds],” officials wrote.

The Navy has already been experimenting with fairly large USV prototypes in recent years, such as the Sea Hunter, Sea Hawk, Mariner and Ranger.

The service has also been conducting market research. Last year, it released a request for information on medium unmanned surface vehicles, indicating that officials were interested in vessels less than 200 feet in length and under 500 tons displacement.

That RFI noted that the unmanned maritime systems program office (PMS 406) — which is also hosting next month’s industry engagement on Future USV — was “contemplating an accelerated approach with industry to leverage existing, manned or unmanned surface ship designs that can be modified to enable rapid delivery of an unmanned or optionally unmanned surface ship capability.”

The special notice about the Future USV program didn’t identify the specific types of payloads the Navy wants the platforms to carry or the missions they will perform.

The service had previously envisioned acquiring medium USVs for intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance missions as well as larger USVs with offensive strike capabilities. However, earlier this year, Rear Adm. William Daly suggested that officials may now be focusing on a platform that can be outfitted with containers capable of carrying both types of payloads, according to news reports.

Although the upcoming industry briefing is restricted to U.S. contractors, more information about the Navy’s plans for the Future USV program could become publicly available when the Defense Department releases its fiscal 2026 budget justification documents in the coming weeks.

Meanwhile, John Phelan, the new secretary of the Navy, has indicated he’s keen on adding uncrewed platforms to the fleet.

“The unique capabilities that unmanned systems bring to the naval and joint force are a tremendous force multiplier, and I believe the Department of the Navy should appropriately and adequately resource the right solutions and doctrine, organization, training, personnel and facilities that support these capabilities, particularly in the Indo-Pacific,” he wrote in response to advance policy questions from senators ahead of his confirmation hearing in February.

“By providing persistent surveillance, intelligence gathering, defensive, and strike capabilities, unmanned systems will enhance lethality and serve as a strong and efficient deterrent to quickly respond to provocation while reducing risks and maintaining flexibility in the region,” Phelan wrote, noting that such tools could help the United States prevail in a potential future conflict against a peer competitor such as China.