Textron Systems Corporation has announced the sale of a 21-foot (6.4-metre) uncrewed surface vessel (USV) to the Naval Information Warfare Center (NIWC) Pacific.
The vessel will support testing for the Maritime Digital Experimentation Federation (MDEF), an initiative involving Australia, the United Kingdom, and the United States (AUKUS) to establish interoperability standards for uncrewed platforms.
The order includes the autonomous craft along with engineering and training support.
Textron noted that this family of maritime surface vessels is designed to meet US Navy and allied requirements for versatile, multi-mission uncrewed assets.
The platform utilizes Brunswick Corporation's vessel hulls integrated with Textron Systems’ CUSV autonomy control system.
David Phillips, Senior Vice President of Air, Land, and Sea Systems at Textron, stated, “The craft provide the navy with a rapidly deployable, fully autonomous solution...allowing for maximum mission flexibility in an attritable system.”
This sale follows a recent purchase of a 24-foot (7.3-metre) variant by the Naval Surface Warfare Center (NSWC) Dahlgren Division.
