US Marine Corps selects Metal Shark to develop Long Range Unmanned Surface Vessel LRUSV.

According to a press release published on January 25, 2021, Louisiana-based shipbuilder Metal Shark has been selected to develop and implement the Long Range Unmanned Surface Vessel (LRUSV) System for the United States Marine Corps.
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A rendering of the autonomous vessel being developed by shipbuilder Metal Shark as part of the US Marine Corps' new LRUSV system. (Picture source Metal Shark)

The LRUSV System will usher in a new era of naval technology while increasing the lethality of U.S. forces, with a network of unmanned vessels traveling autonomously for extended ranges and transporting loitering munitions to address targets at sea and on land.

This tiered, scalable weapons system will provide the ability to accurately track and destroy targets at range throughout the battlespace. While fully autonomous, the vessels may be optionally manned and they will carry multiple payloads, which they will be capable of autonomously launching and retrieving.

Metal Shark has enlisted autonomous technology developer Spatial Integrated Systems (SIS), recently acquired by Huntington Ingalls Industries, to provide the autonomy solution for the LRUSV system. SIS is a leader in the development of multi-vessel collaborative “swarming” autonomous capabilities, sensor fusion and perception.

Under an “Other Transaction Authority” (OTA) Agreement with Marine Corps Systems Command, Metal Shark will design, build, test, and implement the vessels and will handle the integration of the autonomy system and an advanced Command and Control (C2) software suite.

In addition to the autonomous LRUSV, Metal Shark will also produce manned support vessels for the LRUSV system utilizing its 40 Defiant military patrol craft platform, which the builder is currently producing to create the U.S. Navy’s new “40 PB” patrol boat fleet.

Under the OTA, Metal Shark will also provide the Marine Corps with associated program management, system engineering, configuration management, quality assurance, logistical support, and the development of technical publications and manuals in support of the LRUSV program.

The LRUSV program is the latest success for Metal Shark’s Sharktech Autonomous Vessels division, a wholly-owned subsidiary launched in 2018 and specifically focused on the advancement of unmanned vessel technology. In September, it was announced that the United States Coast Guard had selected a 29-foot Sharktech autonomous test vessel equipped with autonomy by Boston-based technology developer Sea Machines for evaluation by the USCG Research and Development Center. In 2019, Metal Shark was selected by US Navy PMS 406 (Naval Sea Systems Command’s Unmanned Maritime Systems division) for the Unmanned Family of Systems Multi Award IDIQ, a blanked Navy contact covering multiple topics in the autonomous space. As a brand-agnostic technology integrator actively engaged with multiple developers in the unmanned space, Metal Shark’s Sharktech division has also produced and delivered autonomous vessels equipped with autonomy solutions from L3 Harris (previously ASV Global).