USS MARINER (OUSV-4)

Mariner, which Gulf Craft built on spec at its Franklin, La., facility under prime contractor Leidos, will help the Navy advance testing for the autonomous technology needed for USVs. It will also add to the wide array of commercial systems – like sensors, satellite links, radars and communications suites – that the Navy is experimenting with across its fleet of USVs.

“Besides this platform doing a lot of work in … allowing us to test and mature basically our system engineering pillars – which are really applicable to no matter what we built, whether it’s [Large Unmanned Surface Vehicle] or MUSVs or something else – a lot of the basics here, the perception and the autonomy, the reliable machinery, almost all of that can cross over between those classes. The real differences are the size of the engines,” Rear Adm. Casey Moton, the program executive officer for unmanned and small combatants, told reporters.

“This baseline of what we’re doing first I want to say is really applicable to whatever approach we go. In terms of requirements, LUSV clearly is a program of record requirement, the [vertical launch system] capability – adjunct magazine capability – is important. It’s in our request. That’s really a big aim of what we’re developing,” he added.

The basic design of Mariner is similar to other craft on the Gulf Coast used to support oil rigs and was half-way built when the Navy purchased it, according to Brian Fitzpatrick, the principal assistant program manager for USV’s at the Naval Sea Systems Command’s unmanned maritime systems program office, or PMS 406.

The 194-foot long Mariner is also equipped with datalinks and systems to function as a mothership for other USVs, making it easier for the Navy to now experiment with multiple unmanned craft at the same time.

“Now we can take two of our USVs and go out and do multi-vessel [operations] and control and not necessarily have to take a DDG off of actual fleet operations to go to that,” Moton said. “It gives us that ability to just get there that much more quickly through the testing and the different scenarios.”

Mariner also features the command and control portions of the Aegis combat system and can link to other Aegis ships in the fleet. The Navy added a third electrical generator, on top of the two generators in the original design for redundancy and the aft part of the USV can fit containerized payloads. The convertible mission area can accommodate two 20-foot payloads in the front and either four 40-foot payloads or eight 20-food payloads in the back.

Mariner is with the Navy’s other MUSVs under San Diego, Calif.,-based Unmanned Surface Vessel Division One.

* Mariner will be on display, but not available for tours, during LA Fleet Week.