DARPA Christens First U.S. Navy Ship Built To Sail Without A Crew

The U.S. Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) has officially christened its first purpose-built, fully autonomous surface vessel, the USX-1 Defiant, in a ceremony held on August 11 at Everett Ship Repair in Everett, Washington.

The 180-foot-long vessel is part of DARPA’s No Manning Required Ship (NOMARS) program and is designed to operate entirely without a crew on board.

Defiant has been built from the ground up with no accommodation for human operators. The vessel features a simplified hull design that can be rapidly produced and maintained in a wide range of port facilities, including smaller Tier III shipyards that usually cater to yachts, tugs, and workboats.

It weighs 240 metric tons and is currently undergoing final systems testing before an extended open-ocean demonstration to test reliability and endurance.

Video Credits: DARPAtv/YouTube

Program officials said the Defiant was engineered to withstand challenging ocean conditions. According to DARPA, the vessel can operate in sea state 5 without performance loss and endure higher waves, resuming operations once storms pass. Its compact width is tailored to fit its largest onboard hardware, with no space wasted on human passageways.

DARPA said that the NOMARS program aims to move beyond “optionally manned” designs and instead focus on fully unmanned ships.

The agency stated that this approach would strengthen the nation’s defense industrial base by providing cost-effective, long-range, survivable, and easily maintainable autonomous platforms. Such vessels could protect and support manned ships, increase combat power at lower cost, and boost U.S. maritime manufacturing capacity.

Following the sea trials, Defiant will be transferred to the U.S. Navy’s Unmanned Maritime Systems Program Office (PMS 406). DARPA is working with the Navy to ensure that the ship’s technologies can be scaled, quickly integrated into future programs, and shared with international defense partners.

Reference: Darpa