The U.S. Navy Bets on Mass Autonomy
The Navy is treating uncrewed surface vessels as a procurement priority, not a science project. Earlier this month, it green-lit seven MUSV marketplace submissions to advance to prototype phase. The programme launched in March with over two dozen submissions. Now seven survive.
Saildrone’s Spectre MUSV made the cut with two variants: Silent Endurance for long-duration ISR, and Stealth Strike for contested operations. The marketplace model itself is notable. Rather than betting on one prime contractor, the Navy is running a competition that mirrors commercial tech procurement. Speed matters. The Indo-Pacific clock is ticking.
Underwater, the same logic applies. L3Harris is already in production on Iver4 900 AUVs through a Defense Innovation Unit effort. These are clandestine submarine-launched vehicles: torpedo tube in, torpedo tube out. The mission set covers mine warfare, seabed mapping, and intelligence collection. The concept is an underwater loyal wingman. A submarine commander launches autonomous scouts without surfacing or revealing position.
Raytheon is developing the companion weapon: the Mark 58 Compact Rapid Attack Weapon (CRAW), a next-generation torpedo sized for the same tubes. The pairing is deliberate. Scout, identify, strike. All from a submerged platform.
SEALs Join the Drone Game
Naval Special Warfare is testing crewed-uncrewed teaming for mini-submarines and UUVs. The concept, disclosed at SOF Week by Navy Capt. Mike Linn, pairs SEAL delivery vehicles with autonomous underwater systems that extend operational reach and reduce operator exposure.
The programme sits under PMS 340, the Naval Special Warfare program office, with NAVSEA and PEO USC providing engineering support. The swimmer delivery vehicle has been a SEAL staple for decades. Adding UUVs transforms it from a transport into a distributed system. Operators ride in. Drones scout ahead, map the seabed, and clear obstacles.
Turkey Fields an Armed XLUUV
At SAHA EXPO 2026, STM unveiled the TENGIZ: an extra-large unmanned underwater vehicle carrying heavy torpedoes and smart loitering munitions. This is not reconnaissance. It is an autonomous submarine hunter with a weapons bay.
Aselsan showed the KILIC UUV, capable of independent operations or swarm coordination. The TUFAN USV — a surface counterpart — joined the display. Turkey is building an integrated unmanned naval stack, surface and underwater, and it is doing so at speed.
The export angle matters. Turkey’s Baykar already sells TB2 drones to Ukraine, Azerbaijan, and multiple African states. An armed XLUUV from the same ecosystem would find buyers. The first foreign sale of an autonomous torpedo-carrying submarine drone will mark a threshold in naval warfare proliferation.
Australia Completes the ASW Puzzle
Autonomy above and below the surface is only as good as the targeting network that directs it. Australia completed its 14-aircraft P-8A Poseidon fleet this month, giving the RAAF a full maritime patrol and anti-submarine warfare capability. The P-8A is the targeting backbone. It finds the submarine. It passes coordinates to surface vessels, aircraft, or — increasingly — autonomous platforms that prosecute the contact.
Canberra also selected Mitsubishi Heavy Industries’ upgraded Mogami-class frigate, with anti-submarine warfare as a core mission. The frigate, the patrol aircraft, and the future AUKUS submarine fleet form a layered system. The missing piece is the autonomous layer: unmanned surface and underwater vehicles that extend sensor range without manned risk.
Australia’s $45.2 billion defence budget includes AUKUS ramp-up spending. Some of that will flow into unmanned maritime programmes. The Australian Submarine Agency is already evaluating uncrewed systems for seabed warfare and infrastructure protection.
South Korea’s Parallel Track
Seoul’s submarine programme gets attention for the nuclear propulsion announcement. Less noticed is the $4.2 billion U.S. arms package approved this month, including MH-60R Seahawk helicopters for anti-submarine warfare. The MH-60R is the surface-ship complement to the P-8A: a dipping sonar, radar, and torpedo platform that turns destroyers and frigates into mobile ASW nodes.
South Korea also completed its first trans-Pacific submarine deployment, with ROKS Dosan Ahn Changho reaching Canada. The voyage demonstrated endurance and interoperability. Autonomous systems will extend that reach further. A KSS-III boat deploying AUV scouts across the Pacific is a realistic mid-decade scenario.
The Company Landscape
L3Harris leads on undersea autonomy. The Iver4 900 AUV contract through DIU makes it the first mover in submarine-launched uncrewed systems. Production is underway, not prototype.
Raytheon (RTX) is betting on the Mark 58 CRAW torpedo. If the Navy adopts it as the standard submarine-launched weapon, Raytheon captures the munitions layer of the autonomous undersea stack.
Saildrone is the standout in the MUSV competition. Its Spectre variants advanced against over two dozen competitors. The company has proven long-duration autonomous surface operations in civilian oceanography. The military pivot is now funded.
STM and Aselsan represent the challenger tier. Turkey’s defence export record in drones is established. Armed XLUUVs are a natural extension, and STM is pricing for markets that cannot afford U.S. or European systems.
Kongsberg and Sparton sit further down the stack. Kongsberg’s naval strike missile and autonomous systems are increasingly relevant. Sparton, alongside Elbit America, is fielding next-generation sonobuoys as enemy submarines get quieter. The sensor race and the autonomy race run in parallel.
What the Warnings Say
CSIS published two relevant assessments this month. The first is blunt: the U.S. military lacks sufficient unmanned undersea systems to fight a protracted war with China. The shortage is specific and quantified. Production timelines are too long for near-term fixes.
The second warning concerns the U.S. maritime industrial base, which CSIS describes as facing generational neglect. Declining commercial shipbuilding is eroding the workforce and supply chain that military programmes depend on. Building autonomous vessels quickly requires a manufacturing base that may not exist at the needed scale.
What to Watch
- U.S. Navy MUSV prototype down-select. Seven designs are in. The next cut will show which concepts the Navy considers operationally credible.
- L3Harris Iver4 operational deployment. First use of a torpedo-tube AUV on an operational submarine patrol will be a watershed moment.
- Turkey’s TENGIZ export campaign. Baykar’s TB2 success created a playbook. STM will follow it.
- Australia’s unm maritime investment. The AUKUS submarine programme will eventually include autonomous wingmen. The budget line for that has not yet been announced.
- Next-gen sonobuoy fielding. Sparton and Elbit America’s precision sensors are entering service as Russian and Chinese submarines get quieter. The detection advantage is not guaranteed.
The shift toward uncrewed maritime systems is not theoretical. This quarter alone, three major navies advanced autonomous programmes, two companies entered production on submarine-launched drones, and a non-traditional exporter unveiled an armed XLUUV. The scramble for undersea autonomy is already underway.