The Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) has advanced to the second phase of its No Manning Required Ship (NOMARS) program, selecting Serco Inc. for design elements.
The NOMARS initiative targets building and demonstrating a new medium unmanned surface vessel (MUSV) capable of going to sea and performing missions with unprecedented reliability and availability while carrying a significant payload.
“NOMARS plans to demonstrate a next-generation completely unmanned ship that will enable entirely new concepts of operations,” DARPA Tactical Technology Office Program Manager Gregory Avicola said. “We will enable methods of deploying and maintaining very large fleets of unmanned surface vessels that can serve as partners, across the globe, for the larger crewed combatants of the U.S. Navy.”
NOMARS required new approaches for power generation, propulsion, machinery line-up, and control schemes to ensure continuous functionality throughout an extended mission in all weather, temperature, and sea states.
Serco’s scope of work in the second phase is slated to include finalizing ship design, as well as building the ship and executing a series of rigorous testing activities before taking it to sea for a three-month demonstration event.
DARPA said Beier Integrated Systems LLC, Caterpillar, DRS Naval Power Systems Inc., ICE FLOE LLC, Metron Inc., and Thrustmaster of Texas Inc. are collaborating with Serco Inc. on the project.