Textron launched its Mission Uncrewed Surface Vessel (MMUSV), built on the company’s common unmanned surface vessel’s (CUSV) proven maturity.

MMUSV has a longer range and higher endurance, which makes it more effective.

It is expected to enhance the Navy’s surface warfare capabilities, mine countermeasures, intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance.

It will also meet the needs of America’s allies, per reports.

The MMUSV provides two times the fuel and payload capacity (up to 13,000 pounds) of earlier craft, survivability up to Sea State 5 and towing capacity of 4,000+ pounds.

Building it is cost-effective, and it can be mass-produced quickly as it is based on the company’s four decades of multi-domain autonomous vehicle experience.

David Phillips, Senior Vice President Air, Land and Sea Systems, said, “Our expertise in design, integration and fielding has consistently delivered unrivalled maritime strength to the Navy and its allies.

The scalability of our systems ensures that the MMUSV, the next advancement in our lineup, provides enhanced mission capabilities rapidly and efficiently.”

The long range and payload capabilities would allow the vessel to conduct surface combat support missions. It could also be integrated with modular weapon systems or non-kinetic payloads.

The vessel design is in alignment with the present naval trends towards more distributed maritime operations where unmanned vessel fleets operate to support bigger, manned warships to expand maritime presence, gather intelligence and reduce risks to human crew.

The MMUSV can carry towed and autonomous mine countermeasure payloads, a major requirement to ensure safe access in littoral zones.