From autonomous driving cars to military-grade unmanned aerial vehicles and drone jets, military organizations are increasingly exploring the potential of flooding the battlefield with drones. In Nov 2022 Ukrainian forces utilized a drone boat in an attempt to sink the significant Russian patrol vessel ‘The Sergey Kotov.’ This drone boat inflicted damage on Sergey and kept the Russian Black Sea fleet on a heightened vigilance and restricted Russian movements. Additionally, Ukraine has now equipped the drone boat with machine guns. Clearly, autonomous vehicles have arrived and will be cheaper and more impressive making a notable impact on military budgets.
Ukrainian sea drones have revolutionized naval warfare over the last few years, relentlessly hunting down Russian ships in the open sea and even at naval bases. What’s next for the autonomous drones on or below water?
In the 70’s Aircraft carriers and various fleets of destroyers would utilize dolphins who wore helmets so they could stay submerged looking for mines. Although use of Dalphins has changed to underwater drones as technology increases,. the Russian military is a bit behind and still uses dolphins. There will be many categories of drone ships besides the typical large, medium, and small especially when considering all the functions that can be managed. Consider the Ukrainian boat w/ attached machine guns. UUVs efficiently locate and neutralize mines, ensuring safer passage for fleets. They safeguard high-value targets, such as aircraft carriers and nuclear submarines, by acting as a first line of defense.
UUVs transport essential supplies and equipment, reducing the burden on traditional vessels.
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LUSV: Large unmanned surface vessel class that’s up to 300ft long and 2,000 tons
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MUSV: Medium unmanned surface vessel class that’s 50-200 ft long and <500 tons
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sUSV: small unmanned surface vessel class that’s less than 50 ft long
Research & monitoring the ocean and currents – Researching and monitoring ocean currents involves using various technologies like satellite imagery, ocean buoys, and specialized instruments to measure the speed and direction of currents.
Naval warfare has undergone significant changes, with technological advancements shifting focus toward unmanned systems. The evolution away from traditional naval assets marks a new era of maritime strategy. Among these innovations, underwater drones, or Unmanned Underwater Vehicles (UUVs), have emerged as transformative tools. These vehicles offer unparalleled capabilities in surveillance, reconnaissance, and combat, making them indispensable for modern navies. The increasing reliance on UUVs highlights their critical role in reshaping global maritime operations.
The No Manning Required Ship (NOMARS) program has built a ship designed to operate autonomously for long durations at sea. Construction of the prototype unmanned surface vessel (USV), USX-1 Defiant, was completed in February 2025.
Defiant is a 180’, 240-metric-ton lightship that will undergo extensive in-water testing, both dockside and at sea. She is scheduled to depart for a multi-month at sea demonstration in spring 2025.
The NOMARS program aims to challenge the traditional naval architecture model, designing a sea frame (the ship without mission systems) from the ground up with no provision, allowance, or expectation for humans on board. By removing the human element from all ship design considerations, the program intends to demonstrate significant advantages, including size, cost, at-sea reliability, greater hydrodynamic efficiency, survivability to sea-state, and survivability to adversary actions through stealth considerations and tampering resistance.
The NOMARS Defiant X-Ship design developed by Serco is a radical departure from traditional designs, representing the next step for the US Navy’s advancement toward a fleet of USVs. The platform was designed from the keel up as a truly autonomous vessel with no provisions for onboard manning and stringent requirements for year-long, high-reliability operations at sea without human intervention. Serco’s design includes a reimagined maintenance philosophy that reduces time in port and keeps the vessel underway and operational for unprecedented periods of time. This highly reliable vessel serves to demonstrate the art of the possible for cost-effective, long-endurance naval drone ships.
Serco Inc., a provider of professional, technology, engineering, and management services, has successfully completed the preliminary design phase of the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) Tactical Technology Office’s No Manning Required Ship (NOMARS) program. Serco is pleased to announce it was selected to move to DARPA NOMARS Phase 2, which encompasses detailed design, construction, and testing of the vessel. Serco will serve as the prime and design integrator, leading an industry alliance including Nichols Brothers Boat Builders, Submergence Group, Metron, Beier Integrated Systems, Thrustmaster of Texas, Leonardo DRS, Integer Technologies, and Caterpillar Marine. This award is an 8-month detail design period leading to the construction of the first NOMARS vessel and includes a 3-month at sea technology demonstration period. Serco has been awarded under a flexible Other Transaction (OT) contract structure to provide flexibility of follow-on work post successful demonstration.
