MV-20: Building a Scalable Unmanned Surface Vessel for Naval Maritime Operations

Intro

The Department of Defense and the OUSD(R&E) Maritime Domain portfolio required a small unmanned surface vessel (sUSV) capable of delivering forward-deployed, persistent maritime domain awareness. The platform had to integrate mission-tailored payloads, survive extreme sea states, and be producible at scale to strengthen Naval Maritime operations.

Challenge

The DoD needed an sUSV that combined multi-mission flexibility with autonomous performance and a design rugged enough for continuous operations in contested maritime environments. The solution had to support open-architecture payload integration, be cost-effective to procure in volume, and align with domestic manufacturing priorities to ensure supply chain resilience.

Solution

Accelint was awarded the EMC2 Other Transaction Authority (OTA) contract to deliver the MV-20 sUSV—a reconfigurable, open-architecture platform designed for forward-operating Naval Maritime missions. Key attributes include:

• A low-cost, scalable platform suitable for fleet-level deployment
• A robust hull and propulsion design engineered for speed, long endurance, and extreme sea state survivability
• Modular payload integration supporting ISR as well as kinetic and non-kinetic mission sets
• Autonomous capability and advanced sensing for persistent, forward-operating maritime domain awareness
• A domestic manufacturing approach aligned with DoD supply chain resilience goals

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The MV-20 gives the Naval Maritime force a flexible, mission-ready platform that supports rapid experimentation, adaptation, and fielding under the EMC2 OTA construct—accelerating capability delivery to the fleet.