MUSV development continues for L3Harris
L3Harris is continuing engineering and technical support for the Medium Unmanned Surface Vessel programme in the US. (Photo: L3Harris)
The USN is continuing to fund the evolution of Medium Unmanned Surface Vessels.
L3Harris Technologies has obtained a $60.48 million contract modification from Naval Sea Systems Command for continued engineering and technical support on the USN Medium Unmanned Surface Vehicle (MUSV) programme.
The DoD stated on 2 July that work will be performed in Morgan City, Louisiana (73%); Arlington, Virginia (10%); Jeanerette, Louisiana (8 percent); New Orleans, Louisiana (6%); Worthington, Ohio (2%); Lafayette, Louisiana (1%), and is expected to be completed by December 2022.
MUSVs in USN thinking are 45-190ft (13.7-57.9m) long, displacing about 500t. Like the planned Large Unmanned Surface Vessels (for which the DoD requests $149 million in development funds for FY2022), MUSVs must be low-cost, high-endurance, reconfigurable ships that can accommodate various payloads as a key element in future USN strategy.
The first MUSV prototype was funded in FY2019 and L3Harris received a $34.99 million contract in July 2020 to develop it, with options to procure up to eight additional vessels.
The USN wants to fund a second prototype in FY2023.
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