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Posted by Ralph Wood on November 8, 2026, 19:01, in reply to "Article in Proceedings "
When the Navy used the term "modular" and put it with the (other) LCS (the Littoral Combat Ship) there was a great moaning, wailing and gnashing of teeth. The way it ended up executed justified that. The RMS (Remote Minehunting System) disgusted even me. We futzed with that silly thing and wasted time and money before someone finally clubbed them over the head and reminded them that "modular" meant "reconfigurable." Oh...we can drop the RMS and get something else? Duh. The CUSV now does the job just fine.
When they added the word "expendable" to the (other) LCS, the wailing and moaning turned to shrieking and writhing. Again, justifiably. 50 men are not expendable.
The concept, however, was an expendable, modular reconfigurable, low cost ship which could be generated in numbers and move into the A2AD (Anti Access Area Denial) space China has created with its "carrier killer" antiship ballistic missiles, mines and diesel subs.
Ladies and gentlemen. Introducing an expendable, modular reconfigurable, low cost ship which can be generated in numbers to move into the A2AD space China has created with its "carrier killer" antiship ballistic missiles, mines and diesel subs. They're known as MUSVs. Modular through interchangeable containerized systems. Expendable by virtue of being unmanned, low cost and affordable. And able to be produced in numbers.
So, the concept was always sound. The first attempt at "bringing it to life" was...uh..."not auspicious." We kept sight of the goal, and tried again. Better, this time, it looks like... 
Previous Message
There was an article in one of the recent Proceedings issues comparing large surface drones to the capabilities of the LCS of WW2. Becoming a multi-tool. Carrying out such tasks as rescue, minelayer, pickets, surface warfare, ASW and AAW. And if I am not mistaken a recent exercise of refueling a surface drone from a surface warship was completed. All shows great promise considering our industrial base to build and repair manned warships is in need of extensive modernization and expansion.
Too bad naval aviation did not get the memo. Previous Message
This came up as I scrolled YouTube:
Intrigued, I ran an online search for more info. Many articles came up. Here are two:
https://www.navalnews.com/naval-news/2026/09/saronic-awarded-production-contract-for-marauder-under-u-s-navys-musv-marketplace/
https://www.workboat.com/navy-orders-10-saronic-marauder-unmanned-vessels
I have only searched on Saronic's vessel, thus these results. A search on the other ones mentioned can provide more details of those to anyone interested.
So, it looks like we'll shortly have 30 MUSVs. Been reading about them "in the abstract" for years. And until only within the last couple of years, it looked like these were still operationally maybe a decade or more away, from the procurement angle. Nothing serious in any of the defense budgets. Then, poof! They became a budget item, and a couple of program iterations before this one. Now, results. Progress. Has my attention. I plan to keep an eye on it.
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