The Fleet-class unmanned surface vessel, also called the Common Unmanned Surface Vessel (CUSV) and later the Mine Countermeasures Unmanned Surface Vehicle (MCM USV), is an

unmanned surface vessel Unmanned surface vehicles (USVs), also known as unmanned surface vessels, autonomous surface vehicles (ASVs) in some cases, uncrewed surface vessels (USVs), or colloquially drone ships, or robot boats, are boats or ships that operate on the ...

designed for the

United States Navy The United States Navy (USN) is the maritime service branch of the United States Armed Forces and one of the eight uniformed services of the United States. It is the largest and most powerful navy in the world, with the estimated tonnage ...

to be deployed from and s and intended to conduct

mine Mine, mines, miners or mining may refer to: Extraction or digging * Miner, a person engaged in mining or digging *Mining, extraction of mineral resources from the ground through a mine Grammar *Mine, a first-person English possessive pronoun ...

and

anti-submarine warfare Anti-submarine warfare (ASW, or in older form A/S) is a branch of underwater warfare that uses surface warships, aircraft, submarines, or other platforms, to find, track, and deter, damage, or destroy enemy submarines. Such operations are t ...

missions. four units of the class have been built; the first was delivered to the U.S. Navy in 2008.

Design and development

Developed by

AAI Corporation AAI Corporation is an aerospace and defense development and manufacturing firm, located in Hunt Valley, Maryland, US. Formerly a wholly owned subsidiary of United Industrial Corporation, AAI was acquired by Textron in 2007. It currently operates ...

General Dynamics Robotic Systems General Dynamics Corporation (GD) is an American publicly traded, aerospace and defense corporation headquartered in Reston, Virginia. As of 2020, it was the fifth-largest defense contractor in the world by arms sales, and 5th largest in the Unit ...

, and Maritime Applied Physics, the Fleet class Unmanned Surface Vessel (USV) is a small, semi-planing hull craft that is intended to operate in an optionally manned configuration to conduct

special warfare Special forces and special operations forces (SOF) are military units trained to conduct special operations. NATO has defined special operations as "military activities conducted by specially designated, organized, selected, trained and equip ...

, mine warfare and

electronic warfare Electronic warfare (EW) is any action involving the use of the electromagnetic spectrum (EM spectrum) or directed energy to control the spectrum, attack an enemy, or impede enemy assaults. The purpose of electronic warfare is to deny the opponen ...

missions from littoral combat ships of the ''Freedom'' and ''Independence'' classes, being constructed using

modular Broadly speaking, modularity is the degree to which a system's components may be separated and recombined, often with the benefit of flexibility and variety in use. The concept of modularity is used primarily to reduce complexity by breaking a sy ...

design to allow for rapid changes of mission through replacement of modules. in length and displacing 7.7 tons, the Fleet class is capable of speeds of over and can carry up to of equipment. The Fleet class is designed to operate for up to 48 hours without interruption. Designed to match the weight and handling limits of a conventional

rigid-hulled inflatable boat A rigid inflatable boat (RIB), also rigid-hull inflatable boat or rigid-hulled inflatable boat (RHIB), is a lightweight but high-performance and high-capacity boat constructed with a rigid hull bottom joined to side-forming air tubes that are ...

, the hull of the Fleet class USV is designed for good seakeeping in most

sea state In oceanography, sea state is the general condition of the free surface on a large body of water—with respect to wind waves and swell—at a certain location and moment. A sea state is characterized by statistics, including the wave height, p ...

s, and the vessels are equipped with advanced controls for autonomous navigation and operation. They are also designed to be converted to manned operation through the replacement of mission modules within a 24-hour period. The vessels of the Fleet class are the first unmanned vessels to be numbered as ships of the United States Navy. As part of the LCS Mine Countermeasure (MCM) mission package, the boats will act as the Unmanned Influence Sweep System (UISS) (formerly unmanned surface sweep system (USSS)), where they will tow a countermeasure system that emits acoustic and magnetic signals to trigger and detonate influence mines at a safe distance. It is also capable of carrying other counter-mine payloads, including a side scan sonar and minehunting and sweeping

unmanned underwater vehicle Unmanned underwater vehicles (UUV), sometimes known as underwater drones, are submersible vehicles that can operate underwater without a human occupant. These vehicles may be divided into two categories: remotely operated underwater vehicles (ROU ...

s, as well as

non-lethal weapon Non-lethal weapons, also called nonlethal weapons, less-lethal weapons, less-than-lethal weapons, non-deadly weapons, compliance weapons, or pain-inducing weapons are weapons intended to be less likely to kill a living target than conventional ...

s and

intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance ISTAR stands for intelligence, surveillance, target acquisition, and reconnaissance. In its macroscopic sense, ISTAR is a practice that links several battlefield functions together to assist a combat force in employing its sensors and managing t ...

(ISR) packages.LCS to get unmanned mine-sweeping boats, drones
- Defense-Update.com, 9 October 2014 Due to reliability issues with the Remote Multimission Vehicle (RMMV), the CUSV is being considered as an alternative to perform minehunting in addition to minesweeping. It is also being tested for deploying off other ships besides the LCS, including a test from an Expeditionary Transfer Dock in fall 2015.Textron’s CUSV In Production As Minesweeping Vehicle, May Take On Minehunting Soon
- News.USNI.org, 27 January 2016 The Navy will begin testing the CUSV in August 2016 to see if it can tow the AN/AQS-20A sonar; in 2011, movement of the USV on the water's surface rendered the sonar inaccurate, but since then software and isolation devices became available to compensate. The vessel could take over minehunting in 2020. In January 2018, Textron announced the U.S. Navy was studying how to weaponize the CUSV for a surface warfare role. Various payloads are being considered including small missiles, remote gun turrets, and sensors and designators to act as a forward targeting node for larger ships.

Operational history

The first Fleet class , was delivered to the United States Navy's

Naval Undersea Warfare Center The Naval Undersea Warfare Center (NUWC) is the United States Navy's full-spectrum research, development, test and evaluation, engineering and fleet support center for submarines, autonomous underwater systems, and offensive and defensive weapons ...

in May 2008; the second vessel of the class entered service the following month. In October 2014,

Textron Systems Textron Inc. is an American industrial conglomerate based in Providence, Rhode Island. Textron's subsidiaries include Arctic Cat, Bell Textron, Textron Aviation (which itself includes the Beechcraft, and Cessna brands), and Lycoming Engines. ...

won a $33.8 million contract from the U.S. Navy for the Fleet-class as the Common Unmanned Surface Vessel (CUSV). 52 boats are to be produced to equip 24 MCM mission packages with two vessels each, along with six for training and replacements. The CUSV completed its critical design review in November 2015 and moved into production in January 2016, with deliveries planned for early 2017 as part of Increment 3 of the LCS MCM package. On 22 July 2022, the UISS reached initial operational capability (IOC), formally approving it to begin operating in the fleet.US Navy robotic minesweeper ship declared operational
''New Atlas''. 3 August 2022.

References

External links

* {{Textron Ships built in Maryland Naval ships of the United States Unmanned surface vehicles of USA