Report: US Navy tests drone boat swarm

The U.S. Navy’s drive toward autonomous maritime operations reached a new benchmark this week as the Program Executive Office for Unmanned and Small Combatants (PEO USC) announced a successful demonstration of eight small Unmanned Surface Vehicle (sUSV) prototypes operating with minimal human input.

According to PEO USC, the sUSVs were powered by the Navy’s advanced Leviathan Software Package, which brings together a suite of capabilities under a single autonomous control framework. The test, conducted by the Navy’s Unmanned Maritime Systems (PMS 406) and Littoral Combat Ship Mission Modules (PMS 420) programs, marks a step forward in integrating unmanned platforms into operational fleets.

The Leviathan suite includes the Autonomy Baseline Library (ABL), the Common Control System (CCS), Automatic Target Recognition (ATR), and perception tools. Notably, the ABL is the first fully open-architecture autonomy software that complies with the Navy’s Unmanned Maritime Autonomy Architecture (UMAA) 6.0 standard, allowing for flexible adaptation and broad industry participation.

“The deployment of Leviathan through the Rapid Autonomy Integration Lab (RAIL) is a force multiplier,” the Navy said in a program update. “It enables robust platform autonomy, streamlined command and control, and the ability for a single operator to manage multiple unmanned vessels.”

The Navy emphasized that Leviathan’s open architecture allows for faster capability development, avoids vendor lock-in, and lowers long-term sustainment costs for unmanned surface vessels. The software is designed to integrate across both shore-based and shipboard control stations, offering flexibility for deployment across a range of missions.

The successful test comes as the Navy continues expanding its investments in unmanned platforms to maintain a technological edge in maritime operations and support Indo-Pacific and global deterrence strategies. The capability to operate multiple drone vessels simultaneously, with high levels of autonomy, is expected to play a key role in littoral and open-ocean missions where distributed control and survivability are critical.