The DARPA Drone Ship That Could Change Naval Surface Warfare Forever

In February 2025, the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) revealed that Serco Inc. had completed the construction of a new prototype uncrewed surface vessel (USV). The USX-1 Defiant, which had been in development since 2020, was revealed, though under significant cover to obscure many of its features. While there's not much known about the vessel at this time, DARPA has divulged some information, and the new USV could potentially change the way naval warfare is fought.

While the future of warfare is leaning toward the widespread use of military drones, the USX-1 offers a new type of surface vessel under the Navy's No Manning Required Ship (NOMARS) program. The purpose of NOMARS is to develop vessels that can operate autonomously for extended periods at sea. Ideally, this could be accomplished due to the lack of need for personnel and the equipment and supplies needed to sustain them.

To this end, DARPA explained in its press release that it was built "from the ground up with no provision, allowance, or expectation for humans on board." In conjunction with the USX-1's construction, DARPA has also successfully tested automated fueling-at-sea, which would keep the vessel in operation without having to return to port. Here's everything we know about the USX-1.

While DARPA is keeping much of the USX-1's capabilities literally under wraps, there is some information detailing the ship's physical attributes. The USX-1 is a 180-foot, 240-metric-ton lightship, which is scheduled to begin an at-sea demonstration for several months in the Spring of 2025. It's unclear how much it cost to develop, though Serco Inc. previously told The War Zone the base cost without systems was $25 million. Given its size and the lack of need to sustain personnel, it's likely that scaled-up operations to produce a fleet of similar ships would cost far less than traditional crewed vessels.

The obvious question is why the Navy wants such a ship and what it might be used for, and the options are widespread. While it's unclear if the USX-1 is armed in any capacity, similar USVs could be effective missile platforms, providing fleetwide air defense, or they could be used to fire on targets using cruise missiles or similar armaments. Other uses could involve tasking them as logistics platforms or for intelligence surveillance and reconnaissance (ISR) operations, extending a Carrier Support Group's coverage of an area for greater distances.

Whatever the Navy plans to do with the USX-1 and the vessels that follow, they're sure to change the way naval warfare is fought in much the same way uncrewed aerial vehicles like the MQ-1 Predator drone and MQ-9 Reaper changed the game for land and air combat missions in the 21st century.