The U.S. Navy has selected seven companies to advance to the next stage of its Medium Unmanned Surface Vessel (MUSV) program, marking a major step in the service’s effort to build a future fleet that includes large numbers of autonomous unmanned ships operating alongside traditional manned warships.

The Department of the Navy announced that Sea Machines, Leidos, Saronic Technologies, Galliano Marine Services, PacMar Technologies, Birdon, and Huntington Ingalls Industries (HII) have been chosen to participate in upcoming at-sea demonstrations for the MUSV marketplace program. The selected companies will now enter a testing phase to evaluate the maturity and operational readiness of their autonomous vessel concepts.

The demonstrations are expected to begin in June and conclude by October 2026. According to the Navy, companies whose vessels successfully complete the testing phase will receive $15 million and become eligible for future leasing arrangements or production opportunities.

Why the Navy wants unmanned ships

The MUSV program is part of a broader Navy effort to expand the use of autonomous systems at sea. Unlike traditional destroyers or frigates that require large crews, Medium Unmanned Surface Vessels are designed to operate with minimal or no personnel onboard. These vessels could potentially perform missions ranging from intelligence gathering and surveillance to electronic warfare, communications relay, logistics support, and missile deployment.

The Navy has increasingly emphasized the need for a larger and more distributed fleet, particularly as military planners focus on the possibility of high-end maritime conflicts in regions such as the Indo-Pacific.

According to USNI News, more than two dozen industry submissions were initially entered into the MUSV marketplace competition, then narrowed to the seven selected designs.

The marketplace approach differs from traditional defense procurement programs. Instead of selecting a single contractor early in development, the Navy is allowing multiple companies to demonstrate competing solutions before determining which designs are mature enough for broader deployment.

A race to build the Navy’s future fleet

The selected companies represent a mix of established defense contractors and newer autonomous technology firms. Huntington Ingalls Industries is America’s largest military shipbuilder and has been developing its autonomous Romulus family of unmanned vessels. 

Saronic Technologies has emerged as one of the fastest-growing defense technology startups focused on autonomous maritime systems, while Leidos has previously developed several unmanned surface and underwater platforms for the U.S. military. The involvement of smaller and non-traditional firms is also notable.

“The MUSV marketplace creates new opportunities for smaller, non-traditional shipyards to build our future fleet,” the Navy said in its announcement.

Industry participants appear to be moving quickly. HavocAI, which is partnering with PacMar Technologies, stated that it already has a 100-foot autonomous MUSV undergoing sea trials in the Pacific as part of efforts to validate technologies for future naval operations.

Autonomous vessels move closer to operational use

For years, unmanned surface vessels were often viewed as experimental technologies. That perception has begun to change as advances in autonomy, sensors, artificial intelligence, and communications systems have made long-duration autonomous maritime operations increasingly practical.

The Navy sees these vessels as a potential way to increase fleet size without the enormous cost and manpower requirements associated with traditional warships. Autonomous ships could also perform higher-risk missions in contested waters while reducing danger to sailors.

While major challenges remain, including reliability, cybersecurity, command-and-control architecture, and integration with crewed naval forces, the MUSV program is increasingly shifting from concept development toward operational testing.

The upcoming at-sea demonstrations will therefore serve as one of the most important real-world evaluations yet of the Navy’s vision for a future fleet in which autonomous vessels operate alongside destroyers, submarines, aircraft, and carrier strike groups.

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