The Pentagon is seeking an unmanned surface vessel (USV) capable of launching small attack drones, aiming to expand America’s asymmetric capabilities against low-cost threats at sea.
A solicitation released through the Defense Innovation Unit outlines requirements for the Suitable Warfighting Adaptive Payloads (SWAP-USV) project.
The effort centers on a mature, market-ready unmanned boat capable of navigating to designated waypoints or patrolling assigned areas.
The USV must operate across blue-water, littoral, and other maritime environments while using onboard sensors to detect and track surface targets.
At minimum, the vessel must achieve an operational range of 200 nautical miles (230 miles/370 kilometers) while maintaining sustained cruising speeds of 10 knots (19 kilometers/12 miles per hour).
It is also expected to deploy cost-effective drones that can launch directly from the vessel, with the aerial systems supporting additional missions such as electronic warfare and communications relay.
The SWAP-USV Contest
As part of the SWAP-USV project, the Pentagon is launching a year-long, multi-phase competition backed by $100 million in total prize funding.
The competition will consist of three sprints with separate rewards. The agency said companies that successfully complete testing will become eligible for procurement contracts supported by a $200-million budget.
Sprint 1 will begin in-water testing in fall 2026, with the goal of achieving field deployment within 120 days.
The competition will continue into early 2027 with Sprint 2, which will focus on expanded payload capacity, before concluding with Sprint 3 in summer 2027.
The Pentagon is seeking participation from maritime manufacturers, autonomy and sensor developers, and drone companies, allowing firms to enter the phase of the competition that best aligns with their capabilities.
