US No Manning Required Ship program’s USX-1 Defiant christened

US Department of Defense “Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency” (DARPA) has recently christened USX-1 Defiant, a first-of-its-kind autonomous, unmanned surface vessel designed from the ground up to never accommodate a human aboard. The ceremony took place at Everett Ship Repair in Everett, Washington, US. The demonstrator for the No Manning Required Ship (NOMARS) program, the Defiant, has a simplified hull design to allow rapid production and maintenance in nearly any port facility or shipyard that traditionally supports yacht, tug, and workboat customers.

The 55 m long, 240-metric-ton lightship is completing final systems testing in preparation for an extended at-sea demonstration of reliability and endurance.

? “Defiant is a tough little ship and defies the idea that we cannot make a ship that can operate in the challenging environment of the open ocean without people to operate her,” said NOMARS Program Manager Greg Avicola, during the ceremony. “While relatively small, Defiant is designed for extended voyages in the open ocean, can handle operations in sea state 5 with no degradation and survive much higher seas, continuing operations once the storm passes. She’s no wider than she must be to fit the largest piece of hardware and we have no human passageways to worry about.”

After completing the at-sea demonstration, Defiant will be turned over to the U.S. Navy’s Unmanned Maritime Systems Program Office (PMS 406). DARPA is working closely with the Navy to identify a pathway to ensure capabilities and technologies demonstrated throughout the NOMARS program are accessible for rapid transition and integration, are scalable, and support international defense partnerships.

NOMARS program was initiated by U.S. Department of Defense Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA). Serco Inc. is the project leader and partners with Beier Integrated Systems LLC, Caterpillar, DRS Naval Power Systems Inc., ICE FLOE LLC, Metron Inc., Submergence Group LLC, and Thrustmaster of Texas Inc. The designer of vessel is DLBA Naval Architects.

?? Source: DARPA