The Navy’s new plans for a family of uncrewed surface vessels (USV), focused more on modular, containerized payloads than specific hull designs, are coming into sharper focus. USVs acquired as part of what is now dubbed the Modular Surface Attack Craft (MASC) program could be configured for a wide range of missions, including surveilling opponents and preventing them from doing the same to friendly forces, as well as launching long-range strikes.
The Naval Sea Systems Command (NAVSEA) laid out requirements for three USV types under the MASC umbrella in a contracting notice earlier this week. Additional details about MASC are included in the Navy’s 2026 Fiscal Year Budget request, which was rolled out in June. The service had first revealed that it was changing course on its USV plans after years of experimentation with two distinct categories of large and medium-sized designs back in January.
For some immediate context, the Navy has previously categorized Large USVs (LUSV) as being up to 300 feet long and having displacements of up to 2,000 tons, while Medium USVs (MUSV) have been defined as designs under 200 feet long and displacing less than 500 tons. The Navy has been pursuing smaller USVs with speed boat and jet ski-type designs and looks set to continue to do so separately from MASC.
The MASC contracting notice that NAVSEA put out this week calls for three designs – a baseline version, as well as high-capacity and single-payload types – the requirements for which are all based around payload capacity, range, and speed, rather than length and/or displacement.
“The desired [baseline MASC] vessel solution should carry a minimum of two forty-foot equivalent unit (FEU) containerized payloads that weigh 36.3 metric tons (MT) each and consume up to 75 kilowatts (kW) each,” the notice says. “While carrying 25 MT on the payload deck, the vessel should achieve a minimum range of 2,500 nautical miles (nmi) while maintaining at least 25 knots, at all times, in NATO Sea State 4.”
Per NATO standards, Sea State 4 is characterized by wind speeds of 17 to 21 knots and wave heights between four and eight feet.
“The Navy [also] seeks to address the need for a high endurance, high capacity, embarked payloads platform, which integrates with ISO containerized payloads,” NAVSEA’s recent MASC contracting notice says. “The desired vessel solution should have the ability to carry a minimum of four (4) FEUs containerized payloads that weigh 36.3 MT each and consume up to 50 kW each. The technology solution should maximize speed and range to the extent practicable.”
Lastly, there is the single-payload MASC type, which “should have the ability to carry a minimum of one (1) twenty-foot equivalent unit (TEU) containerized payloads that weigh 24.0 MT and consume up to 75 kW. The TEU payload should have no obstructions aft of the payload to the transom [the aft surface of the vessel that forms the stern],” according to the contracting notice. Again, “the technology solution should maximize speed and range to the extent practicable.”
The specific mention of power generation requirements in all three cases is notable. Even when it comes to traditional crewed warships, onboard power generation capacity is often a key limiting factor for integrating new capabilities. For the MASC program, this would be particularly relevant when it comes to any future plans to add laser or high-power microwave directed energy weapons, as well as electronic warfare suites, to the drone boats.
The contracting notice also lays out additional “highly desired,” “strongly desired,” and “other desired” attributes that are more broadly applicable.
The ability to “autonomously and safely avoid maritime hazards and collisions with vessels, including during low visibility conditions and in scenarios where radio frequency (RF) emissions are not permitted,” is in the “highly desired” category. “The vessel should be able to safely continue the mission if communications with the control station are lost. These maneuvers are compliant with COLREGS, and the vessel can classify contacts in accordance with COLREGS autonomously.”
NAVSEA says it is also highly desirable that contractors be able to produce any MASC USV designs quickly, hopefully in less than 18 months from an initial contract award.
MASC USVs with performance above the threshold requirements, including the ability to operate in Sea State 5 conditions (22 to 27 knot winds and eight to 13 foot waves), are included in the list of “strongly desired” attributes. The ability to “automatically adjust RF [radiofrequency] emission control posture based on the mission requirements sent to the platform via offboard control station” is also included in that category.
Designs built to commercial standards, that are readily repairable, and that can be maintained using predictive models, are also strongly desirable, according to NAVSEA. The Navy is also interested in USVs capable of “extended operation times without preventative maintenance, corrective maintenance, emergent repair or any other form of repair or maintenance.”
The list of “other desired” attributes includes designs that could be readily exported to allies and partners, as well as baseline and high-capacity types with accommodations for up to eight personnel for periods of up to 14 days. It’s worth noting here that the MUSVs and LUSVs the Navy has been experimenting with to date are all optionally crewed, and it is unclear whether the service is expressly interested in fully uncrewed options for MASC.
The NAVSEA contracting notice does not lay out any requirements for specific types of payloads. Navy officials have previously said that the initial plans for the service’s new USV vision include a weapons payload, originally expected to be fielded on future LUSVs, and an intelligence, surveillance, and reconnaissance (ISR) one developed as part of previous MUSV efforts.
The weapons payload in question seems all but certain to be the Mk 70 Expeditionary Launcher, also known as Payload Delivery System. This is a containerized derivative of the Mk 41 Vertical Launch System (VLS) with four cells capable of firing various missiles, including Standard Missile-6s (SM-6) and Tomahawks. Back in 2021, the Navy announced it had test-fired an SM-6 from a Mk 70 installed on the experimental USV Ranger. The service is also moving to field the Mk 70 as a way to boost the firepower of its two classes of Littoral Combat Ships (LCS), as well as in a ground-based configuration.
Other kinetic payloads will likely migrate to future Navy USVs. TWZ has previously laid out a detailed case for adding containerized launchers for deploying swarms of aerial drones to the Navy’s crewed surface warships, as you can read about here, and those capabilities would also be relevant to future MASC drone boats.
It’s also worth noting here that the Navy’s existing Sea Hunter and Seahawk experimental MUSVs were born from a program focused on finding and tracking enemy submarines using fixed and towed sonar arrays. ISR payloads, as well as ones to help counter enemy ISR capabilities, could include an array of other sensors, as well as electronic warfare suites.
As a follow-on specific to previous MUSV efforts, “MASC will support the Navy’s ability to produce, deploy and disburse ISR&T/C-ISR&T/IO [Intelligence, Surveillance, Reconnaissance, and Targeting; Counter-ISR&T; and Information Operations] capabilities in sufficient quantities and provide/improve distributed situational awareness in maritime Areas of Responsibility (AORs),” the Navy’s 2026 Fiscal Year budget request says. “These USVs will be capable of weeks-long deployments and trans-oceanic transits and can operate aggregated with Carrier Strike Groups (CSGs) and Surface Action Groups (SAGs), as well as independently. These USVs will be a key enabler of the Navy’s Distributed Maritime Operations (DMO) concept.”
The LUSV line item in the service’s proposed budget for the 2026 Fiscal Year does not include a similarly explicit note with regard to transitioning to MASC. The Navy’s vision for LUSVs in the past has been centered on the long-range strike mission set.
The 2026 Fiscal Year budget proposal lays out plans to continue using existing experimental designs as the primary feeders into the new MASC program. Another experimental MUSV-class design, the Defiant, developed as part of the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency’s (DARPA) No Manning Required Ship (NOMARS) program, is also set to be turned over to the Navy in the next fiscal cycle. The Defiant is very much in line with the Navy’s now-stated baseline MASC requirements, and the company behind the vessel, Secro, has already been working on an enlarged derivative.
The Navy is also looking to leverage its relationship with the Pentagon’s Defense Innovation Unit (DIU) to accelerate the MASC effort.
When MASC USVs might actually start entering operational service, and in what configurations, at least initially, is unclear.
“In FY 2026, the MASC program will conduct a prototyping phase with industry in order to mature and develop unmanned technologies, as well as demonstrate unmanned capability to reduce risk for future MASC procurement,” according to the Navy’s budget documents. “PMS-406 [NAVSEA’s unmanned Maritime Systems office] will issue OTA [other transactional agreement] awards organically and in partnership with DIU, focusing on iterative development of capabilities for the Maritime Attack Surface Craft (MASC) and broader USV FoS [family of systems] requirements.”
All of this comes as USVs have now long been seen as a key way for the Navy to bolster its surface fleets. Distributed fleets of USVs configured for strike and ISR missions, and capable of operating independently or in groups, as well as together with crewed warships, open a door to significant new operational possibilities. Members of the MASC family could also help reduce risks to crewed assets. Modular designs that can be readily configured and reconfigured for different missions using containerized payloads also present targeting challenges for opponents.
“What’s in the box, a weapon or a different payload?” Rear Adm. William Daly, head of the Navy’s surface warfare division (N96), said while discussing the new USV vision at the Surface Navy Association’s annual symposium in January. “Keep them guessing.”
The United States’ worrisome and still-widening gap in shipbuilding capacity with chief global competitor China has also been putting new emphasis on USVs. The U.S. government has been trying to take steps to reverse this trend, including exploring the potential of leveraging foreign shipyards to produce more crewed warships, in recent years. In the meantime, the Navy’s traditional shipbuilding programs continue to be beset by delays and cost growth, on top of being expensive long-lead-time efforts, in general.
“The optionally crewed future needs to arrive sooner,” Daly also said back in January. “N96’s focus now is to move faster and streamline the family of unmanned surface crafts. The change from what you’ve heard earlier is that we are not pursuing large, medium … more directly, a hybrid fleet need not include large and/or exquisite uncrewed platforms. We’ve got to get real here.”
NAVSEA’s stated interest in rapidly producible designs built to commercial standards for MASC could offer additional advantages in this regard. The contracting notice put out earlier this week also leaves the door open to foreign participation in MASC, or in adjacent efforts, which could help further accelerate development and drive down costs through the pooling of resources and economies of scale. Cooperation on uncrewed capabilities, including in the naval domain, is already a core aspect of the trilateral Australia-United Kingdom-United States (AUKUS) defense cooperation agreement. Australia announced plans last year to make substantial new investments in larger USVs.
Altogether, the Navy is clearly now looking to MASC as a path to finally begin fielding larger USVs after years of seemingly endless experimentation.
Contact the author: joe@twz.com
