The US Department of War, through the Defense Innovation Unit (DIU), is seeking unmanned surface vehicles (USV) ready for production, armed to detect, track and engage drones and helicopters at ranges beyond three nautical miles.
Up to US$40 million is on offer. Proposals must be submitted on or before November 30, 2026.
The competition is part of the 12-month Suitable Warfighting Adaptive Payloads for Unmanned Surface Vessels prize challenge, which DIU runs with the Direct Reporting Portfolio Manager for Unmanned Systems.
DIU said it, "seeks integrated combinations of mature USVs and hard-kill counter-air effectors suitable for forward operational fielding within 120 days."
Each submission must cover a complete USV, launcher and effector combination. Specialist suppliers may join teamed bids, but vessel-only or effector-only entries will not be evaluated.
US and international vendors are eligible.
Conceptual, developmental and prototype-only designs are excluded, and entrants must document active production lines and surge capacity.
The vessels must have a minimum range of 200 nautical miles and sustain a cruising speed of 10 knots or more. Operators will supervise engagements with rotary-wing aircraft and group one to three unmanned aerial systems; group five capability is highly desired.
Systems must also integrate with Project Autonomous Vehicle Orchestrator and be compatible with transport in 20-foot or 40-foot ISO containers and military cargo aircraft such as C-17s or C-130s.
Entrants can offer payloads in four weapon categories. The first covers the AGM-114L Hellfire missile and the AGM-179 joint air-ground missile.
The second is the advanced precision kill weapon system, and the third covers remote weapon stations with Stinger missiles, machine guns or high-power lasers.
The fourth is open to other mature effectors. Two-person field rearming is required or desired across the categories.
"The government will prioritise total cost-effectiveness – encompassing the vessel, weapons, crew, operations, and maintenance – over standalone platform performance metrics," DIU stated.
Selected entrants must demonstrate within 30 days of down-selection. In-water testing is planned for early 2027 and includes a three-week, government-operated evaluation at Little Creek, Virginia.
Military users will operate the systems there, including navigation under jamming and simulated or live-fire engagements.
Industry has already trialled counter-UAS sensor packages on USVs and agreed to fit SWATH USVs with launchers and low-cost missiles.
