The US Department of the Navy has selected seven companies’ entries to advance to the at-sea testing phase of the medium unmanned surface vessel (MUSV) marketplace.
The seven companies selected to participate in the MUSV family of systems development are: Sea Machines Robotics; Leidos; Saronic Technologies; Galliano Marine Services; PacMar Technologies; Birdon; and Huntington Ingalls Industries.
Companies whose MUSV successfully completes the at-sea test will receive US$15 million and will be eligible for follow-on production. At-sea testing will begin next month and should be complete by October 2026.
The navy said the MUSV marketplace will create new opportunities for smaller, non-traditional shipyards to build the service's future fleet. This initiative has been designed to rapidly field unmanned technologies by, "leveraging mature, existing commercial solutions."
In accordance with 10 US Code Section 7309, an MUSV or any major component of its hull or superstructure may not be constructed in a foreign shipyard. Also, an accelerated schedule requires using an existing proven design.
