American shipbuilder Metal Shark has introduced a new, “rapidly producible” unmanned surface vessel, priced below $500,000 per unit.
The 21-foot (6.4-meter) High-Speed Maneuverable Unmanned Surface Vessel (HSMUSV) is engineered for autonomous naval operations, featuring human-in-the-loop control.
It is based on the Relentless-class monohull design, used by the US Navy as High-Speed Maneuvering Surface Targets (HSMST).
“We’ve delivered the manned HSMST to the Navy at the pace of up to three units per week,” said Chris Allard, CEO of Metal Shark. “Based on current capacity with this active production line, we can deliver the HSMUSV at the rate of one unit per day.”
The HSMUSV is making its debut this week at the Sea-Air-Space symposium in National Harbor, Maryland.
Features
The vessel has a range of over 500 nautical miles (575 miles/926 kilometers) and a top speed nearing 40 knots (46 miles/74 kilometers per hour).
It is equipped with advanced hardware and software developed by Metal Shark’s SharkTech Unmanned Systems division, offering remote operators an intuitive command-and-control interface for enhanced situational awareness.
These onboard SharkTech components also enable integration with various software packages and artificial intelligence systems.
Operators communicate with the vessel via line-of-sight high-frequency radio and beyond-line-of-sight Starlink satellite links, securely transmitting data over a VPN tunnel.
The HSMUSV can host a variety of payloads, such as tethered or untethered unmanned aerial vehicle systems, explosive charges, munitions, and surveillance equipment.
