The Navy is planning to host an industry day to brief companies on how the Large Unmanned Surface Vessel (LUSV) fits into efforts to transition the surface force.
The Program Executive Office for Unmanned and Small Combatants’ Unmanned Maritime Systems Program Office (PMS 406) will host the industry day on June 10 in the Washington, D.C., area, according to a May 20 notice.
It said the objective of the event is to “provide Government information and solicit industry feedback to accelerate the development and procurement of future USVs.”
The notice said the industry day will specifically cover the LUSV program vision and objectives, program schedule, engineering/technical requirements and program objectives
While the information will be at a unclassified-for official use only level, access is restricted to only DoD contractors.
The registration deadline for this event in May 31, with up to two representatives per company allowed to attend.
As of a year ago, the LUSV program’s capabilities development document was being developed, land-based testing was set to end in fiscal year 2024 and the Navy would select the builder by the end of FY 2025 (Defense Daily, April 17, 2023).
However, when the FY ‘25 budget request was released by the Navy, officials said budget caps imposed by the Fiscal Responsibility Act forced the Navy to make changes to delay systems, with the LUSV pushed back to FY 2027.
LUSV’s budget was also cut by over 50 percent from the fiscal year 2024 amount.
When the budget was released, Deputy Assistant Secretary of the Navy for Budget Rear Adm. Ben Reynolds also said technical difficulties were one main driver pushing the Navy to delay LUSVs by two years, while smaller Unmanned Undersea Vehicles were doing well (Defense Daily, March 11).
The Navy previously planned to start buying LUSVs at a rate of one in 2025, then two the following year, then three each in 2027 and 2028. The latest budget pushed back that plan by two years.