Unmanned surface ship project for U.S. Navy awards six contracts
NewsAugust 03, 2022
WASHINGTON. The U.S. Navy asked six companies that specialize in autonomous marine vessels to come up with different concepts for a large unmanned surface vessel (LUSV) that would carry cargo, sensors, and weapons and travel the ocean in addition to the Navy’s manned surface force.
According to an announcement from the Naval Sea Systems Command, contracts worth a total of $62.1 million were awarded to Austal USA, Bollinger Shipyards Lockport, Gibbs & Cox, Huntington Ingalls Inc., Lockheed Martin Rotary and Mission Systems, and Marinette Marine.
The LUSV concept builds on work pertaining to medium- and large-scale USVs that the Office of Naval Research (ONR) and the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) began a number of years ago. Navy officials assert that the LUSV will be used for semi-autonomous operation, with operators controlling the vessel remotely, or through fully autonomous operations for such activities as resupply missions and personnel transport.
