:

Unmanned Systems

Blue Water Autonomy Marks Construction Progress On First Liberty Class USV

By Cal Biesecker

Thursday, May 21st, 2026

SHARE:

Blue Water Autonomy Marks Construction Progress On First Liberty Class USV

Image of Blue Water Autonomy's 190-foot Liberty Class unmanned surface vessel. Source: Blue Water Autonomy

Autonomous vessel developer Blue Water Autonomy on Thursday released photos of its first Liberty Class ship under construction at Conrad Shipyard in Louisiana,\. The images are of the bow section of the 190-foot medium unmanned surface vessel (MUSV), which Blue Water Autonomy is offering for the Navy’s MUSV competition. The bow section is positioned upside down with the keel at top at this stage of construction. The steel-hulled Liberty Class is based on Damen Shipyards’ Stan Patrol 6009 axe bow…

Navy Leaders Downplay Looking At Foreign Navy Shipbuilding Amid Lawmaker Objections

The Navy’s top leaders this week seemed to downplay and back down on the service potentially using foreign shipyards to build U.S. Navy ships or buying foreign designed warships overseas […]

Army

Senate Defense Appropriators See ‘Risk’ With Army’s Reconciliation Plan To Fund Munitions Increase

The Senate’s top defense appropriators cited concern this week with the Army’s request to fund the majority of its large increase to munitions procurement in fiscal year 2027 through the […]

Army

Army Relooking At Its ‘Whole Aviation Transformation’ Plan, Acting Chief Tells Lawmakers

The Army is relooking at its “whole aviation transformation initiative,” the service’s acting chief of staff told lawmakers on Tuesday, to include its approach for future procurement of “enduring” platforms. […]

Army

Lawmakers Request DoD Briefing On Army’s Planned Cuts To Aviation Procurement

A bipartisan group of House lawmakers has sent a letter asking the Pentagon for a briefing on the potential industrial base impacts as a result of the Army’s planned cuts […]