MUSV: Navy Orders 30 Drone Ships From Three Shipyards
The Navy will buy 30 medium unmanned surface vessels from HII, Saronic and Galliano at about $40 million each, with first deliveries due by late FY2027.
The U.S. Navy has moved its medium-sized drone ships out of the test phase and into production. On 29 September the service awarded production agreements for 30 Medium Unmanned Surface Vessels, or MUSVs, split evenly among HII, Saronic Technologies and Galliano Marine Services, Breaking Defense and USNI News reported. The Navy put the average price at about $40 million per vessel, which works out to roughly $1.2 billion for all 30, and said the first ships should arrive before the end of fiscal year 2027.
Key takeaways
- 30 hulls, three builders: HII, Saronic and Galliano Marine Services will each build 10 MUSVs under other transaction authority (OTA) agreements (Marine Log).
- About $40 million each: the Navy gave only an average cost per vessel and did not say how much each company received (USNI News).
- Deliveries from late FY2027: production starts immediately at three Louisiana yards, according to Navy program official Chris Miller.
- More vendors queued: Leidos, PacMar Technologies and Sea Machines passed testing, received $15 million each and can win follow-on orders through a Pentagon drone marketplace.
- Contested selection: Blue Water Autonomy and Saildrone have sued the Navy over the earlier prototype awards (USNI News).
What the Navy is buying
An MUSV is an uncrewed ship large enough to cross an ocean but far smaller and cheaper than a crewed warship. According to USNI News, the Phase I requirement called for a vessel able to travel 2,500 nautical miles at 25 knots in sea state 4 while carrying up to 25 metric tons of payload in at least two 40-foot shipping containers. The container approach matters: it lets the Navy swap sensors, weapons or cargo without redesigning the hull. In the Navy’s announcement, quoted by Marine Log, the Chief of Naval Operations said MUSVs give commanders capacity that can be “placed at risk without placing Sailors at unnecessary risk” and a platform for “rapidly integrating new sensors, weapons, and other mission payloads.”
HII will build its ROMULUS design and Saronic its Marauder. Naval Technology lists the lead ROMULUS 190 at 190 feet (58 meters), with a top speed above 25 knots, endurance above 2,500 nautical miles and room for four 40-foot containers. Naval News, publishing Saronic’s release, describes Marauder as a 180-foot “dual-use” autonomous ship.
Key specs and numbers
| Item | Detail | Source |
|---|---|---|
| Order | 30 MUSVs, 10 each from HII, Saronic and Galliano Marine Services | Navy via Breaking Defense, Marine Log |
| Average unit cost | About $40 million per vessel (about $1.2 billion total at that average) | Navy via USNI News |
| Contract type | Production OTA agreements; Saronic’s is firm-fixed-price | Marine Log; Naval News |
| Phase I requirement | 2,500 nm at 25 knots in sea state 4; up to 25 metric tons in two 40-ft containers | USNI News |
| Endurance test | About 26 hours and 360+ nm with a single operator input | Chris Miller via USNI News |
| ROMULUS 190 (HII) | 190 ft; 25+ knots; 2,500+ nm; four 40-ft container slots | Naval Technology |
| Marauder (Saronic) | 180 ft; dual-use autonomous ship | Saronic via Naval News |
| Funding | One Big Beautiful Bill Act reconciliation law | USNI News |
| First delivery | As early as Q4 FY2027 | Chris Miller via USNI News |
How the vessels were tested
Seven companies reached the prototype phase in May. Miller, the Navy’s acting direct reporting portfolio manager for robotic and autonomous systems, told reporters that each vessel had to run roughly 26 hours and more than 360 nautical miles with only a single input from a command-and-control station. Breaking Defense reports the trials also assessed each vessel’s maritime awareness and whether it could navigate on its own under the international collision-avoidance rules. Birdon was the only participant that did not meet the requirements; Miller said it has a “viable path” back in.
The companies describe their own results in stronger terms. HII said its Odyssey autonomy system completed a 420-nautical-mile, 28-hour long-endurance mission during 13 days of Navy-monitored testing in the Gulf. Saronic said Marauder ran more than 140 test scenarios over eight days of continuous operations “without failure,” including tracking other vessels with passive sensors only. Those are company claims; the Navy has not published scenario-level results.
Acting Navy Secretary Hung Cao framed the award as a message to industry: “build fast, deliver on time, and match the urgency of the threat,” he said in a statement quoted by Breaking Defense.
Why it matters
The order marks a shift in how the Navy buys ships. Rather than a traditional program of record, the MUSV marketplace buys production-ready designs, adds qualified vendors to an online catalog hosted on drones.mil and lets acquisition offices across the Defense Department order from it, according to Marine Log and Breaking Defense. A Phase II solicitation issued on 23 September relaxes the rules: vessels up to 90 meters, at least 10 days of unmanned operation and a payload of at least two 20-foot containers, with no high-speed requirement. Miller said testing could begin as early as 16 November, with proposals assessed on a rolling basis for five years.
Analysis: Navies elsewhere are already investing heavily in uncrewed vessels, from China’s large underwater drones to Russia’s naval drone programs. Thirty $40 million hulls will not replace destroyers, but they could add sensor and payload capacity to the fleet at a fraction of a warship’s cost, in places such as the Taiwan Strait or the Strait of Hormuz, where commercial shipping has come under attack. How useful they prove will depend on payloads the Navy has not yet named publicly, on whether the yards deliver on schedule, and on the outcome of the Saildrone and Blue Water Autonomy lawsuit.
What to watch: the first MUSV delivery date; which payloads the Navy fits into the containers; Phase II testing from mid-November; and any court ruling on the protest of the prototype awards.
Related coverage
- China’s Sea Drones: Giant UUVs, Minelayers, Seabed Mapping
- Russia’s Naval Drones: Poseidon Trials, Black Sea Squeeze
- Hormuz Ship Attacks Hit Nine in October as Freight Rates Spike
Sources
- USNI News, 3 Louisiana Shipyards to Build 30 Drone Ships in $1.2B Navy MUSV Deal, 29 September 2026.
- Breaking Defense, Navy to purchase 30 MUSVs following at-sea testing, 29 September 2026.
- Marine Log, Navy awards contracts for 30 MUSVs to three shipbuilders, 30 September 2026.
- Naval News, Saronic Awarded Production Contract for Marauder Under U.S. Navy’s MUSV Marketplace, 30 September 2026.
- HII, HII Wins U.S. Navy Contract for 10 ROMULUS USVs, 29 September 2026; Naval Technology, ROMULUS Unmanned Surface Vessels, US, 19 February 2026.
