DIU unveils next phase in unmanned vessel competition

WASHINGTON — The Defense Innovation Unit (DIU) is launching the second phase of a prize challenge seeking “mature” unmanned surface vessels (USVs) the Pentagon can field in the next 120 days, offering up to $40 million in prize money.

The challenge, dubbed Suitable Warfighting Adaptive Payloads (SWAP)-USV, comes as the Navy relies on expensive and exquisite platforms to take on “low-cost, low-signature” threats, like explosive USVs and small unmanned aerial systems, according to a recent DIU solicitation. 

“The current force packages lack sufficient persistent, distributed capability to search for, track, and defeat these threats at an economically sustainable cost,” the DIU solicitation, released Thursday, said.

Specifically, the DIU solicitation said that it wants USVs outfitted with “mature hard-kill Counter-Air effectors and clutter-resilient sensor suites” to identify and quash airborne threats for this phase of the competition, known as Sprint 2. The USV must also have a minimum operational range of 200 nautical miles and travel at a sustained speed of at least 10 knots, per the solicitation. 

“Sprint 2 focuses specifically on detecting, tracking, and defeating hostile airborne threats in contested maritime environments,” the solicitation said. “Proposed solutions should combine proven USVs, mature hard-kill effectors, resilient sensor suites, and interoperable command-and-control architectures to provide affordable, scalable, and persistent capability while favorably shifting the cost-exchange ratio.”

The DIU said submissions’ counter-air effector proposals should have the capacity to engage Groups 1–3 UAS and rotary-wing aircraft — the smallest classes of unmanned systems. Having the capacity to engage the largest class of unmanned systems, Groups 4 and 5, “is highly desired” the solicitation said.

Submissions for Sprint 2 must be in by Nov. 30, with in-water testing expected to kick off in early 2027. Sprint 1 kicked off in July, with in-water testing expected this fall. Sprint 3, the final phase of the 12-month long competition, is expected to begin in the spring of 2027, with on-water testing to be completed that summer. Sprints 1 and 2 are each offering up to $40 million in prize money, while Sprint 3 will offer up to $20 million. 

The DIU, which launched the competition in partnership with the Direct Reporting Portfolio Manager for Unmanned Systems and the Direct Reporting Portfolio Manager for Robotic and Autonomous Systems, said that the government has earmarked $200 million for prototype or follow-on production contracts following the competition.