The Navy is conducting market research to investigate options to deploy several Medium Unmanned Surface Vessels (MUSVs) within a short time period for testing, the service said in a solicitation this week.
According to a June 17 sources sought/Request for Information (RFI) notice issued by Program Executive Office (PEO) Unmanned and Small Combatants’ Unmanned Maritime Systems Program Office (PMS 406), MUSVs under this notice include vessels under 200 feet long and under 500 tons displacement and can meet specific payload details. The payload details are not public and would be provided in a separate correspondence, the notice said.
The Navy is particularly considering a quick approach to MUSV delivery, similar to the Deputy Secretary of Defense Kathleen Hicks’ Replicator initiative that seeks to help counter Chinese military advances via rapid deployment of large numbers of unmanned systems within two years.
“PMS 406 is contemplating an accelerated approach with industry to leverage existing, manned or unmanned surface ship designs that can be modified to enable rapid delivery of an unmanned or optionally unmanned surface ship capability,” the notice said.
Specifically, under this RFI the Navy is considering an accelerated schedule on a later contract that requires an existing proven design with minor modifications or converting current U.S.-built vessels, with delivery of the first vessel planned for 12 months after contract award.
Following this RFI, the potential future contract would call for up to seven MUSVs by one vendor. It specified a clean-sheet design for the vessels is “not an option,” to underscore the focus on delivery speed.
The notice said delivery within 12 months is planned to allow for test and evaluation while up to six follow-on vessels would be delivered within 24 months after contract award.
The Navy underscored that for now the purpose of this RFI is to assess industry’s ability to “provide a materiel solution within an accelerated timeframe at an affordable cost. The Navy is seeking information to help determine the interest, technical and manufacturing capabilities, technical quality of solutions, knowledge, experience level, and qualifications of industry to meet the Government’s needs to build or convert up to seven MUSVs.”
The Navy is also interested in technical, administrative and business risks as it pursues this desired solution.
The notice said respondents should identify their solutions with time and cost drivers and even solutions that only cover a portion of the desired end product are still welcome.
Responses are due by June 28.
This effort appears separate from the current MUSV test vessels the Navy is fielding, consisting of the Leidos [LDOS]-built Sea Hunter and Sea Hawk medium-displacement USVs originating from a DARPA program, the four planned Overlord larger USVs and one MUSV prototype the Navy contracted to L3Harris Technologies [LHX] in 2020 for $25 million (Defense Daily, July 13, 2020)
While the 2020 contract to L3Harris includes options for up to eight follow-on vessels, the Navy’s FY ‘25 budget request still does not include plans to procure any within the next five years. That competition included four other competitors that the Navy never disclosed who could be interested in the latest RFI.