MEDIUM UNMANNED SURFACE VEHICLES (MUSVs))

NavyRDT&EPartial Reconciliation0605512N

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What it is

MEDIUM UNMANNED SURFACE VEHICLES (MUSVs)) (0605512N) is a Navy research & development line funded in the Research, Development, Test and Evaluation, Navy account. Its J-book detail breaks the line into 2 projects.

What changed

-$62.4M FY25→26 R-1 TOA · PB2026

Who gets it

No award linkage at high confidence.

Budget Figures

FY24 Actuals

$152.0MR-1 TOA · PB2026

FY25 Total

$101.8MR-1 TOA · PB2026

FY26 Request

$39.4MR-1 TOA · PB2026

100.0% reconciliation

$39.4M one-time reconciliation. Discretionary change vs FY2025 enacted: -100.0%.

FY25→26 Change

-$62.4MR-1 TOA · PB2026

Two official figures, one label— reconciled below

Fiscal Receipts uses P-1/R-1 workbook total obligation authority (TOA) as the headline figure sitewide. The workbook TOA includes budget rows (such as advance procurement) that the R-2/P-40 J-book program line excludes. How the two bases relate →

FY26 Request · $39.4M TOA − $0 J-book line (a zero-dollar XML line) = 39.4M (39.4 − 0.0 = 39.4)

Figures in the sentence are rounded for reading; the parenthesised arithmetic is the same subtraction in USD millions, at the precision where it closes.

FY2026 award data is a partial year — USASpending awards are reported on a rolling basis and the fiscal year does not close until September 30. why partial FY2026 data? →

Budget Trajectory

The program's 3 summary figures for FY24 to FY26, plotted in fiscal-year order so the direction of travel is readable at a glance: this line ends lower than it starts. The points are the summary cards above, not a separate derivation; the table beside the chart carries each figure with its own citation.

Budget trajectory: one row per fiscal year, carrying the summary figure the sparkline plots. Every figure opens its own citation.
Fiscal year	Amount
FY24	$152.0M
FY25	$101.8M
FY26	$39.4M

All series figures: R-1 TOA · PB2026

Decade view — P-1/R-1 workbook TOA basis, shown compact in $B/$M (the workbook records USD thousands); each figure cites its own President's Budget edition

7 fiscal years of this program as published (FY2020–FY2026): a line through the actuals (filled dots), with the enacted (hollow circles) and request (diamonds) markers each edition reported. Read it for direction, not for precision — this program's actuals line rises across the span. The grid below is the same data as text, one cited figure per cell.

The vertical scale does not start at zero: the baseline sits just below this program’s smallest year, so a low point on this line is not a small amount. Read the shape for direction and the grid below for the figures.

● actuals (line) · ○ enacted · ◇ request — gaps are editions the program is absent from, never interpolated.

Decade series values by fiscal year and President's Budget edition: one row per series (actuals, enacted, request), one column per fiscal year. Every figure opens its own citation.
Series	FY20	FY21	FY22	FY23	FY24	FY25	FY26
Actuals	$0	$53.4M	$57.9M	$83.5M	$152.0M
Enacted	–	$55.3M	$60.0M	$86.0M	$85.8M	$101.8M
Request	–	–	$60.0M	$104.0M	$85.8M	$101.8M	$39.4M

blank = series not published for this year; – = absent from that edition.

Asked vs spent: the PB2024 book requested $85.8M for FY2024; the PB2026 book reported $152.0M as actual total obligation authority — $66.2M above the request. 152.0 − 85.8 = 66.2 USD millions — the compact figures above are rounded for reading.

Program Lineage

No predecessor/successor lineage was recorded for this program element — no FY-to-FY transfer into or out of this line was stated in the ingested J-books, and none was inferred from the program structure.

Description

Mission — MEDIUM UNMANNED SURFACE VEHICLES (MUSVs)

Projects under this Program Element provide resources for the unmanned platforms in the Navy's Future Surface Combatant Force (FSCF), Medium Unmanned Surface Vehicle (MUSV), Sea Hunter, and Seahawk. No Manning Required Ship (NOMARS) is also planned to transition from DARPA to PMS406 in FY 2025, which will be vital in the technology development and risk reduction efforts to support the MUSV PoR. MUSV is defined as having a reconfigurable mission capability which is accomplished via modular payloads with an initial capability to support Battlespace Awareness through supporting Intelligence, Surveillance, Reconnaissance, and Targeting (ISR-&T), Counter-ISR&T, and Information Operations (IO) mission areas. MUSVs provide affordable, high endurance, reconfigurable ships able to accommodate various payloads for unmanned missions and augment the Navy's manned surface force. MUSVs will be capable of autonomous operation, with operators in-the-loop or on-the-loop, as required. USV Command and Control (C2) will be maintained via an afloat element (i.e., embarked on a United States Navy (USN) combatant/other assigned afloat asset) or via an ashore element (C2 station ashore). While unmanned surface vehicles are new additions to fleet units, MUSV is intended to combine robust and proven commercial vessel specifications with existing military payloads to rapidly and affordably expand the capacity and capability of the surface fleet. The MUSV program leverages years of investment and full scale demonstration efforts in autonomy, endurance, command and control, payloads, and testing from the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) Anti-Submarine Warfare Continuous Trail Unmanned Vessel (ACTUV), Office of Naval Research (ONR) Medium Displacement Unmanned Surface Vehicle (MDUSV)/Sea Hunter (FY 2017 to FY 2021), and Office of the Secretary of Defense Strategic Capabilities Office (OSD SCO) Ghost Fleet Overlord Large USV experimentation effort (FY 2018 to FY 2021). The combination of fleet-ready C2 solutions developed by the Ghost Fleet Overlord program and initial man-in-the-loop or man-on-the-loop control will reduce the risk of fleet integration of unmanned surface vehicles and allow autonomy and payload technologies to develop in parallel with fielding vehicles with standardized interfaces. Small Unmanned Surface Vehicle (sUSV) Family of Systems is designed to meet an urgent Geographic Combatant Command Requirement leveraging technologies developed by MUSV. sUSV is an inexpensive Maritime capability leveraging the best of commercial technology and innovations at speed and scale.

Mission — Medium Unmanned Surface Vehicle (MUSV)

Projects under this Program Element provide resources for unmanned platforms in support of the Navy's Future Surface Combatant Force (FSCF), Medium Unmanned Surface Vehicles (MUSV), and No Manning Required Ship (NOMARS) planned to transition from DARPA to PMS406 in FY 2026. These vessels will be used for technology development and risk reduction efforts to support Modular Attack Surface Craft (MASC), the future USV PoR. USVs are defined as having a reconfigurable mission capability which is accomplished via modular payloads with an initial capability to support Battlespace Awareness through supporting Intelligence, Surveillance, Reconnaissance, and Targeting (ISR-&T), Counter-ISR&T, and Information Operations (IO) mission areas. USVs provide affordable, high endurance, adaptable ships able to accommodate various payloads for unmanned missions and augment the Navy's manned surface force. USVs will be capable of autonomous operation, with operators in-the-loop or on-the-loop, as required. USV Command and Control (C2) will be maintained via an afloat element (i.e., embarked on a United States Navy (USN) combatant/other assigned afloat asset) or via an ashore element (C2 station ashore). While USVs are new additions to the fleet, MASC is intended to combine robust and proven commercial vessel specifications with existing military payloads to rapidly and affordably expand the capacity and capability of the surface fleet. The USV program leverages years of investment and full scale demonstration efforts in autonomy, endurance, command and control, payloads, and testing from the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) Anti-Submarine Warfare Continuous Trail Unmanned Vessel (ACTUV), Office of Naval Research (ONR) Medium Displacement Unmanned Surface Vehicle (MDUSV)/Sea Hunter (FY 2017 to FY 2021), and Office of the Secretary of Defense Strategic Capabilities Office (OSD SCO) Ghost Fleet Overlord Large USV experimentation effort (FY 2018 to FY 2021). The combination of fleet-ready C2 solutions developed by these entities and the initial man-in-the-loop or man-on-the-loop control will reduce the risk of fleet integration of USVs and allow autonomy and payload technologies to develop in parallel while fielding vehicles with standardized interfaces. The MUSV is one of two USVs in the Future Combatant Force (FSCF) program. The MUSV project provides resources for acquisition development, prototype testing, experimentation and support for future USV program development. MASC, the future USV, is defined as having a reconfigurable mission capability, accomplished via modular payloads with an initial capability to support Battlespace Awareness through supporting Intelligence, Surveillance, Reconnaissance, and Targeting (ISR-&T), Counter-ISR&T (CISR&T), and Information Operations (IO) mission areas. Modular payloads may be developed separately by other programs or prototyping efforts and will be further developed and/or integrated into MASC Block 0 and Block 1 under the USV Enabling Capabilities PE (0605513N). MASC will support the Navy's ability to produce, deploy and disburse ISR&T/C-ISR&T/IO capabilities in sufficient quantities and provide/improve distributed situational awareness in maritime Areas of Responsibility (AORs). These USVs will be capable of weeks-long deployments and trans-oceanic transits and can operate aggregated with Carrier Strike Groups (CSGs) and Surface Action Groups (SAGs), as well as independently. These USVs will be a key enabler of the Navy's Distributed Maritime Operations (DMO) concept. In FY 2020, the Navy conducted a full and open competition for a MUSV prototype, conducting source selection activities Q1-Q3 of FY20. In July 2020, the Navy awarded a Detail Design & Fabrication (DD&F) contract to L3 Harris for the delivery of the first MUSV prototype. L3 Harris was the system integrator, in addition to supplying the autonomy and perception systems. Subcontractors Gibbs & Cox and Incat Crowther provided vessel design and modification services, while the vessel was scheduled to be produced by Swiftships Shipyard. All work was planned to be performed in various sites along the Louisiana Gulf Coast. In FY23, fabrication of the MUSV prototype was having serious quality issues. These issues eventually resulted in the Navy discussing alternative contract actions due to L3H's inability to deliver the MUSV prototype. As a result of significant schedule delays, the Navy will complete the development of the MUSV autonomy software and install it onto a 406 owned prototype for program maturation. MUSV Machinery Plant - LBTS was required to demonstrate unmanned operation of main propulsion and electrical generation/distribution at a minimum of threshold mission duration requirements prior to entering MS B as required by the FY21 NDAA. The MUSV LBTS successfully completed testing of both a main propulsion diesel engine and a ship service diesel generator, in accordance with the NDAA requirement, expanding the qualified options of systems that can be used on future USV programs. The MUSV LBTS was disassembled in Q2FY24. The Sea Hunter and Seahawk prototypes are experimentation vessels operated by PMS406 and the Navy's Surface Development Squadron, and are currently homeported in San Diego, CA. Seahawk was delivered to ONR who subsequently transferred ownership to PMS 406 Q3 FY21. No Manning Required Ship (NOMARS) is planned to transition from DARPA to PMS406 in FY26. This vessel will help feed the future MASC PoR and will provide risk reduction and technology maturation through testing of equipment and tactics. Through continued operations and demonstrations utilizing prototypes, the Navy continues to gain valuable insights and lessons learned in the utilization of unmanned systems and their associated payloads. This knowledge influences both Concept of Operation/Employment doctrine to guide fleet operations, as well as requirements documents for the MASC program. USV prototypes will provide a means for demonstrating a payload's ability to operate in an autonomous manner with no engineering support for multi-day operations simulating a MUSV operational environment. USV Prototypes will inform PMS 406 on technologies for MUSV that demonstrate successfully the Navy's ability to produce, deploy and disburse ISR&T/C- ISR&T/IO capabilities in sufficient quantities and provide/improve distributed situational awareness in maritime Areas of Responsibility (AORs).

Mission — Congressional Adds

Small Unmanned Surface Vehicle (sUSV) Family of Systems is designed to meet an urgent Geographic Combatant Command Requirement leveraging technologies developed by MUSV. sUSV is an inexpensive Maritime capability leveraging the best of commercial technology and innovations at speed and scale.

Justification

No accomplishments or planned-program narratives in this line's J-book detail — some exhibits carry figures without per-project prose.

Budget Line Items(workbook-cited)

P-1/R-1 workbook Total Obligation Authority basis (USD thousands) · PB2026.

Exhibit R-1

Account	Org	Type	Amount
Research, Development, Test and Evaluation, Navy	N	FY24 Actuals	$152.0M
Research, Development, Test and Evaluation, Navy	N	FY25 Enacted	$101.8M
Research, Development, Test and Evaluation, Navy	N	FY25 Total	$101.8M
Research, Development, Test and Evaluation, Navy	N	FY26 Reconciliation	$39.4M
Research, Development, Test and Evaluation, Navy	N	FY26 Total	$39.4M

Budget Details(R-2/P-40 facts)

J-book detail basis (R-2/P-40, USD millions) · PB2026 — a different accounting basis from the P-1/R-1 workbook TOA above; where the two disagree, the reconciliation strip under Budget Figures shows both.

Wider than this screen — swipe the table sideways for the remaining fiscal-year columns.

Project	All Prior Years	FY24 Actuals	FY25 Total	FY26 Base	FY26 Request
Program Element	$194.8M	$152.0M	$101.8M	$0	$0
3428: Medium Unmanned Surface Vehicle (MUSV)	$194.8M	$75.8M	$101.8M	$0	$0
9999: Congressional Adds	$0	$76.2M	$0	$0	$0

No follow-the-dollar view — this program's awards haven't been crosswalked at high confidence (flows cover 17 of 1,741 programs). why coverage is partial? →

Awards

No awards are linked to this program element at high confidence — the budget→award crosswalk only asserts links it can defend, and this line has none yet.

Lobbying Mentions

Showing 25 of 80 from the Senate LDA disclosure database.

BAE SYSTEMS INCUNMANNED|VEHICLES2026matched 2+ title words

National Defense Authorization Act, 2027 (HR XXXX/S XXXX); provisions regarding R&D - Navy, US Marine Corps, Air…