The US Navy is set to operationalize its first medium unmanned surface vessels as Seahawk and Sea Hunter enter fleet service and three new USV divisions are formed to support autonomous operations. Announcing the development at the Surface Navy Association’s annual symposium, Commodore Garrett Miller said the Navy is moving to embed unmanned vessels into everyday fleet activities. The two 41-meter USVs will initially perform surveillance and reconnaissance tasks, feeding real-time sensor data to manned ships to support anti-submarine warfare, with Seahawk expected to operate alongside a carrier strike group. Having previously been used in exercises, the vessels will now shift into operational roles as the Navy accelerates investment in autonomous systems. The service has expanded its small USV inventory, established an unmanned systems officer career track, and continues to work with industry partners such as Leidos and Textron to develop next-generation multi-mission USVs with greater range, payload capacity, and operational flexibility.
