Description:

Sea Hunter and Seahawk are the first autonomous medium unmanned surface vessels (MUSVs) operated by the U.S. Navy. Like the Overlord program, the U.S. Navy is using Sea Hunter and Seahawk as prototypes for research and experimentation. Major goals of research and experimentation efforts with Sea Hunter and Seahawk are to determine the most effective way to utilize USVs in operations and how to best integrate them into the Fleet. Both Sea Hunter and Seahawk are playing a crucial role in the development of the Navy’s future USVs and providing the Fleet with real-time operational experience. The assets operate as distributed sensor platforms for manned ships to extend their operational view and support maritime domain awareness and anti-submarine warfare. They were originally developed as part of a project led by the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) and the Office of Naval Research (ONR), before being transferred to the Navy.

These vessels were purpose-built unmanned maritime platforms to support USV program technology testing, experimentation and development, and to demonstrate long-range/endurance autonomous operations. The vessels have integrated with the Fleet during multiple fleet exercises including Integrated Battle Problem 23.1 and 23.2 as well as RIMPAC 2022.

Prototypes:
Sea Hunter – San Diego, California

Seahawk – San Diego, California

Technical Facts

Seahawk and Sea Hunter are approximately 41-meters-long (~135’), 142.3-metric-ton displacement vessels at full load.