Unmanned Surface Vehicle Enabling Capabilities

Project 3067 funds the development, integration, and testing of critical mission-enabling technologies common to the Unmanned Surface Vehicle (USV) Family of Systems (FoS). The Government defines and controls the overall system architecture and key interfaces for these capabilities to ensure interoperability, reduce duplication, and enable continuous competition. These capabilities will be integrated into the Integrated Combat System (ICS) to enable proliferation across ICS platforms. This project consolidates RDT&E funding for the following core technology areas: Perception, Automated Target Recognition (ATR), and Track Management: This foundational autonomy capability enables USVs to ingest sensor data (e.g., EO/IR, radar), detect and classify objects, and maintain persistent awareness of contacts, which reduces the need to transmit large volume raw sensor data and enables scalable mission execution at the edge. The Government defines the perception framework and data interfaces. Program funding supports the maturation of this capability through the evaluation of competing commercial and government ATR algorithms and the subsequent integration of selected models into the common framework. The work also includes directing structured data collection to support the training and testing of these models. Coupled with CI/CD pipelines and fleet-relevant data infrastructure, this approach enables rapid iteration, validation, and deployment of perception, ATR, and track management capabilities across heterogeneous UxS platforms. Autonomous Command & Control (C2): This C2 ecosystem provides a resilient, multi-echelon command and orchestration framework that allows operators to manage large numbers of unmanned systems with high-level mission tasking rather than direct manual control. The Government owns the core C2 architecture and interfaces. Program funding supports the development of new software modules and the integration of the common C2 capability with fleet systems such as ship combat systems and shore-based command centers. Mission and Collaborative Autonomy (MCA): This capability delivers mission-level autonomy that enables heterogeneous groups of USVs to coordinate and execute tactically optimized actions under commander's intent. The Government defines the architectural standards for this collaborative behavior.

The United States Navy's various unmanned surface vessel (USV) programs are strategically unified under a single, cohesive portfolio. This portfolio encompasses the Medium Unmanned Surface Vehicle (MUSV) program as well as a suite of critical prototypes, which include the Sea Hunter, Seahawk, Ranger, Mariner, Vanguard, and the No Manning Required Ship (NOMARS). By consolidating these diverse platforms, the Navy ensures that all resources and developmental efforts are aligned, creating a focused initiative to advance the capabilities of the Future Surface Combatant Force (FSCF). This integrated structure provides a clear line of sight from initial experimentation to fleet-level application. These programs collectively serve as a crucial hedge force for the Chief of Naval Operations' (CNO) overarching strategy, most notably the Distributed Maritime Operations (DMO) concept. The portfolio provides affordable, high-endurance, and reconfigurable ships that can rapidly and affordably expand the capacity and capability of the manned surface fleet. MUSVs and the associated prototypes augment the Navy's combat power by creating a distributed network of sensors and platforms capable of weeks-long deployments and trans-oceanic transits. They can operate aggregated with Carrier Strike Groups (CSGs) and Surface Action Groups (SAGs) or perform missions independently, providing the Navy with flexible and resilient options to maintain maritime dominance. The portfolio's primary mission is centered on integrating, experimenting with, and maturing technology to reduce risk for future naval endeavors. This effort is focused on seamlessly integrating robust and proven commercial vessel specifications with existing military payloads and command and control systems, leveraging years of investment from DARPA, the Office of Naval Research, and the Office of the Secretary of Defense. The prototypes, operated by the Navy's Surface Development Squadron out of San Diego, are in a constant state of experimentation, providing a means to demonstrate and mature a payload's ability to operate autonomously.

Expeditionary Maritime Sensing Systems and AUSVs for Manned-Unmanned Teaming efforts consist of Perception, Automated Target Recognition (ATR), Track Management, Mission and Collaborative Autonomy (MCA), and Autonomous Command & Control (C2): Perception, Automated Target Recognition (ATR), and Track Management: Perception, Automatic Target Recognition (ATR), and track management are foundational autonomy capabilities supporting multiple mission sets for Robotics Autonomous Systems (RAS), including One-Way Attack (OWA), Maritime Domain Awareness (MDA), Intelligence, Surveillance, and Reconnaissance (ISR), and Counter-UxS operations across theaters. Perception capabilities enable unmanned platforms to ingest and process data from onboard sensors, such as EO/IR, radar, and other sensors, to detect objects and characterize the surrounding environment. Building on this perception layer, ATR algorithms classify and identify detected objects, while track management capabilities maintain persistent awareness of contacts over time, enabling platforms to track, prioritize, and support engagement decisions. Together, these capabilities reduce the need to transmit raw sensor data back to operators, enabling scalable mission execution across large numbers of distributed unmanned platforms. By allowing UxS to autonomously detect, classify, track, prioritize, and in some cases engage targets, these technologies significantly reduce operator burden while enabling massed effects in Distributed Maritime Operations (DMO). Structured, large-scale data collection provides the operationally relevant datasets required to develop, train, test, and sustain perception and ATR models across diverse environments, sensors, and mission scenarios. Test events validate both model performance and the operational utility of collected data to inform future collection priorities. Coupled with CI/CD pipelines and fleet-relevant data infrastructure, this approach enables rapid iteration, validation, and deployment of perception, ATR, and track management capabilities across heterogeneous UxS platforms. Mission and Collaborative Autonomy (MCA): The Mission and Collaborative Autonomy (MCA) capability delivers mission-level autonomy that enables heterogenous UxS to use ATR to decide, coordinate, and execute tactically optimized actions under commander's intent.