Autonomous Ships Are Coming. Leidos Can Build Them

The U.S. Navy recently submitted a Fleet Force Structure plan that includes a requirement for 148 uncrewed vessels, including 78 autonomous surface ships. Leidos, with our many decades of autonomous vessel design, build, and operations, is ready to answer the Nation’s call to support the U.S Navy in quickly reaching its ambitious goals for a new, modern, 21^st Century Hybrid Fleet. Leidos’ innovative culture, engineering expertise, and deep knowledge of America’s shipbuilding industry positions us to meet the challenge.

Why Autonomy?

Artificial intelligence has taken the world by storm the past three years, and understandably, many people worry about AI replacing them in important roles. However, when it comes to providing more autonomous vessels for missions, there’s a lot of benefit for sailors.

Dave Lewis, president of Sea Systems for Leidos, likes to start by explaining the three Ds of autonomy: dangerous, dirty, and dull.

“The ocean is a dangerous place. The romantic sunset resort beach scene we see on postcards is not what sailors experience,” Lewis said. “Survival at sea for a Navy ship consists of 1% combat and 99% overcoming the challenges and hazards presented by the ocean itself, every day, all day, all night. The ocean is a harsh and unforgiving environment that brutally punishes the unprepared ship and sailor.”

Dirty missions are those where the missions require close contact with hazardous, toxic, or inherently unsuitable missions for crewed ships. 

“Autonomous ships can withstand extended on station time through all kinds of environmental conditions and keep on sailing, saving wear and tear on crews, ships and equipment,” Lewis said.

Then comes the dull work, such as surveying the ocean floor. Lewis explained how surveying and research is vital for the Navy, but that doesn’t mean the work is enjoyable or fulfilling. Autonomous vessels complete those missions while the Navy uses its team of highly skilled sailors to work on more critical missions.

According to Lewis, after the three Ds comes the two most important benefits of autonomous vessels: cost and production speed. A destroyer built to Navy standards can cost billions of dollars and take five or more years to build, while dozens of autonomous vessels can be built for a fraction of that price in a fraction of that time. To make that a reality, though, the Navy will need to rely on commercial support.

“The U.S. has more than 120 shipyards, but only five are dedicated to U.S. Navy work,” Lewis explained. “Those five yards are important because it’s where the Navy builds the nation’s specialized warships, but that also means they are overloaded with work. Commercial yards are not, and they have the capacity and capability to support.”

Leidos already works with more than a dozen commercial yards and have discussed the potential of working together on autonomous projects in the future.

Unmanned, Unmatched

Leidos is uniquely qualified to help the Navy develop their autonomous fleet because the company has already delivered four different unmanned surface vessels (USVs) being used for operational missions – Sea Hunter, Seahawk, Ranger and Mariner. The four vessels successfully completed a seven-month deployment in the Western Pacific that stretched between 2023 and 2024.

“We’ve already proven we can deliver hardy autonomous ships capable of completing a variety of missions,” Lewis said. “They were cheaper to produce than standard ships, and they were able to keep working despite long hours, days, and weeks at sea.”

Leidos can also support more than the needs of a single autonomous vessel. The company can assist ships and their systems, something it is already doing for two USVs in service.

However, autonomous ships are not the only capability needed in a modern navy. Leidos’ suite of autonomous systems, which leans on the company’s Trusted Mission AI work, expands beyond the idea of large surface vessels into smaller surface vessels and undersea capabilities. 

The company sea systems’ suite of autonomous systems includes:

• Sea Archer™ – A fast, mission-flexible, small USV that provides surface and undersea warfare support and contested logistics at scale.
• Sea Castle™ – A force multiplier for unmanned undersea vessels (UUVs), providing in-water recharging, data transfer, and mission updates—extending operations without breaking the surface.
• Sea Ranger™ – Designed to expand and accelerate the U.S. Navy’s experimentation of larger and highly autonomous vehicles, it is designed to execute ISR missions and disrupts enemy operations, without putting sailors in harm's way. 
• Sea Specter™ – Inspired by narco-sub technology, the stealthy, long-range maritime platform navigates undetected while delivering critical supplies and firepower deep into contested waters.
• Acoustic Device Countermeasure Mark 5 (ADC MK5) – The U.S. Navy’s next-generation, autonomous torpedo countermeasure designed to enhance submarine defense and can be adapted for other applications. 
• Leidos Acoustic Vector Sensor (LAVS) – A compact, 3D directional sensing solution for ocean surveillance, marine mammal monitoring and situational awareness. 

 “Autonomy is not here to take anything away from the bravery of those serving. It’s here to support them and bring them home safe,” Lewis said.

Leidos will be showing its entire suite of offerings at the U.S. Navy Leagues Sea-Air-Space Conference and Expo April 7-9 in National Harbor, Maryland. 

Certain statements in this announcement constitute “forward-looking statements” within the meaning of the rules and regulations of the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). These statements are based on management’s current beliefs and expectations and are subject to significant risks and uncertainties. These statements are not guarantees of future results or occurrences. A number of factors could cause our actual results, performance, achievements, or industry results to be different from the results, performance, or achievements expressed or implied by such forward-looking statements. These factors include, but are not limited to, the “Risk Factors” set forth in Leidos’ Annual Report on Form 10-K for the fiscal year ended January 3, 2025, and other such filings that Leidos makes with the SEC from time to time. Readers are cautioned not to place undue reliance on such forward-looking statements, which speak only as of the date hereof. Leidos does not undertake to update forward-looking statements to reflect the impact of circumstances or events that arise after the date the forward-looking statements were made.