The SteelNavy.Com Message Board: Re: Navy USVs come in all sizes...

Yes, they do. Vanguard is part of Ghost Fleet Overlord, which was a test and development force of 4 vessels at its peak. (Nomad has been retired and sold.) That program and the MUSV test program led to these production ships. Vessels this large show up in Navy Force Structure documents, and the defense budget.

But, yes, the Navy also has (and has had for some years now) all these smaller USV boats. While Corsair is not one I had previously known of, the 16-foot GARC is familiar to me. That one I knew was operational. Thank you for the news on the Corsair, and that rescue. Nice photos, but when I click the link, I get to see a brief glimpse of each boat, then the screen goes black with the caption remaining. Not sure why. Still, from the brief glimpses I get, they are great photos, thank you.

Interesting news that they disappeared from San Diego. I might search that to see if I can find news of where they went. Thank you for the post and the news.

Previous Message

We've seen some of the larger Navy USVs like Austal's 200-foot Vanguard fitting out in Mobile but haven't gotten many good photos of them yet. However, we have gotten images of some of the smaller USVs already in service with USVRON-3 at NAB Coronado such as the Saronic 24-foot Corsair 24-foot Unmanned Surface Vessel (USV):

https://www.flickr.com/photos/185342800@N08/55448737540/in/datetaken/lightbox/

While certainly not as imposing as its bigger sibling from Saronic, they have been used in actual SAR missions, e.g., a Corsair operated by Task Force 59 in Bahrain is credited with rescuing two downed AH-65 Apache crewmembers in the coastal waters of Oman near the Strait of Hormuz on the night of 8 June 2026, the first such rescue in history.

Another small operational USV with USVRON-3 is BlackSea Technologies' 16-foot Global Autonomous Reconnaissance Craft:

https://www.flickr.com/photos/185342800@N08/55447433307/in/datetaken/lightbox/

In a SINKEX conducted as part of RIMPAC 2026, two USVRON-3 GARC USVs conducted a live-fire attack on decommissioned USS Peleliu (LHA 5) on 17 July 2026 off Kauai, Hawaii. The low-profile, autonomous surface vessels each delivered a 454-kilogram warhead against Peleliu's hull following the primary long-range missile and air strikes by manned assets. Operating after the target's simulated defenses were disrupted, the uncrewed craft were able to navigate through surface debris and detonate near the waterline to produce localized structural damage and internal flooding that hastened its demise. Photos of the damage they inflicted can be found online on the DVIDS site and others.

It is interesting we took the above photos and saw these little boats operating around San Diego Bay and surrounding waters on a daily basis in August, but by our next visit in late September, they'd all disappeared. We suspect they had or were getting ready to deploy - we do know a couple of the larger USVs were publicly announced as accompanying USS Theodore Roosevelt (CVN 71) when she deployed at the end of the month to the Mideast, maybe the small USVs went along with her too.