DARPA hands the world’s first fully autonomous drone warship to the US Navy
The Sea Hunter is the world's first fully autonomous warship, and it's just passed trials, next stop official duty.
Cite or link to this article
Griffin, M. (2018) 'DARPA hands the world’s first fully autonomous drone warship to the US Navy', 311 Institute, 18 February. Available at: https://www.311institute.com/darpa-hands-the-worlds-first-fully-autonomous-drone-warship-to-the-us-navy/ (Accessed: 1 October 2026).
After just under a year at sea DARPA has finally completed the sea trials of the world’s first fully autonomous warship, Sea Hunter, a submarine hunting drone ship that can cross the open seas without a human crew for months at a time, and they have just officially handed over the ship's development to their project partner, the Office of Naval Research, which has already begun fine tuning the drone's autonomous features.
The Navy has also renamed the drone and they now call it a “Medium Displacement Unmanned Surface Vehicle,” or MDUSV for short, which, frankly, isn't any better than its old name, Anti-Submarine Warfare Continuous Trail Unmanned Vessel, or ACTUV. I’ve also got a feeling many people will still stick to calling it Sea Hunter, that is unless the US Navy can come up with an even better nickname.
Sea Hunter Undergoing Trials
Defense contractor Leidos started building Sea Hunter in 2014 and DARPA conducted the first speed tests in April 2016, with the first operational trials last December, christening the 132-foot self-driving ship "Sea Hunter" within the same month. The drone has the ability to hunt foreign owned stealthy submarines, China and Russia are known for having big submarine fleets that both regularly penetrate US waters, such as this Russian nuclear capable drone submarine that was spotted by the Pentagon last year.
In DARPA's announcement, is said Sea Hunter could become a "new class of vehicle under the Navy,” and the military division plans to conduct more testing in order to develop new automated weaponry and sensor systems, new mission specific autonomous behaviours and autonomous coordination with, eventually, other multiple Sea Hunters, and if the Navy wants to deploy a fleet of submarine-hunting drones, which they probably will, then they’ll need to be able to add those capabilities to Sea Hunter's features, especially the last one.
What this means for your organisation
Autonomy has passed its trials.
Sea Hunter finished sea trials after just under a year at sea. It can cross open seas without a human crew for months at a time. Development has now moved to the Office of Naval Research, which is fine tuning its autonomous features.
Fleets need coordination next.
DARPA plans more testing of automated weaponry, sensor systems and mission specific behaviours. It also wants Sea Hunters to coordinate with each other. This links to the wider shift towards many cheap drones in place of a few costly weapons, and to sensors that react on their own.
Rivals set the pace.
China and Russia have large submarine fleets that regularly penetrate US waters, which gives the Navy a reason to scale up. Firms in shipping and security should watch how rules for crewless ships develop as autonomy moves from trials towards trade.
Three questions for your next leadership meeting
- Which of our operations could run without a crew on site?
- How would we coordinate several autonomous machines working as one fleet?
- Which rules on crewless vehicles could change our plans?
The trends and technologies behind this story
From the 311 Starburst, the 311 Strategic Intelligence Unit’s map of the technologies and trends shaping the next 50 years.
Analysis by the 311 Strategic Intelligence Unit, from Matthew Griffin’s article and 311 data. First published on Fanatical Futurist.
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Why does this matter?
The Sea Hunter is the world's first fully autonomous warship, and it's just passed trials, next stop official duty.
About the author
Matthew Griffin Founder, President and Futurist, 311 Institute
Matthew Griffin is a multi-award winning Futurist and expert in Disruption and Innovation, Geopolitics, Leadership, and Technology, who NASA have described as a "walking encyclopaedia of the future" and a "futurist Polymath."
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Matthew Griffin is a multi-award winning Futurist and expert in Disruption and Innovation, Geopolitics, Leadership, and Technology, who NASA have described as a "walking encyclopaedia of the future" and a "futurist Polymath." 17-time best selling author of the "Codex of the Future" series, Matthew is the Founder, President and Futurist of the 311 Institute, a global Futures and Deep Futures advisory firm working with royal households, world leaders, G7, G20, and G77 governments, NGOs, and multi-national mid and mega cap firms to help them explore, shape, and lead the next 50 years of business and society.
An award-winning YouTube creator with over a million followers, with an unrivalled global reach and impact, Matthew is a highly sought-after international keynote speaker, lecturer, and mentor who collaborates with global leaders through the United Nations Alliance of Civilizations (UNAOC) and United Nations General Assembly (UNGA) to shape pivotal initiatives such as the UN’s AI for Humanity programme, the United Nations Conference of the Parties (UN COP), and the World Economic Forum in Davos.
As the former Global Head of Cloud, National Security, and Enterprise Sales for companies including Atos, Dell-EMC, and IBM, Matthew has a proven track record of building multi-billion dollar business units and turning failing divisions into market leaders. His ability to identify, analyse, and communicate the implications of hundreds of emerging technologies and trends is unparalleled, and his insights are trusted by many of the world’s most respected organisations, including ABB, Accenture, Adidas, AON, ARM, BCG, Centrica, Citi, Coca-Cola, Dentons, Deloitte, Dow Jones, EY, Google, KPMG, Lego, Legal & General, LinkedIn, Microsoft, PepsiCo, Qualcomm, RWE, Samsung, Siemens AG and Siemens Energy, T-Mobile, UBS, VISA, Walmart, Workday, Worldpay and many others.
Regularly featured in the global media including the AP, BBC, Bloomberg, CNBC, Discovery, Forbes, Khaleej Times, Telegraph, TIME, ViacomCBS, WIRED, and the WSJ, Matthews mission is to help organisations create a fair and sustainable future whose benefits are shared by everyone irrespective of their ability, background, or circumstances.
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Source: first published by the 311 Institute on 18 February 2018. Cite as: Griffin, M. (2018). DARPA hands the world’s first fully autonomous drone warship to the US Navy. 311 Institute. https://www.311institute.com/darpa-hands-the-worlds-first-fully-autonomous-drone-warship-to-the-us-navy/
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