How The U.S. Army’s ‘Navy’ Aims To Go More Autonomous With Its Vessels In The Pacific

The US Army is seeking up to 100 new purpose-built unmanned surface vessels while exploring autonomy upgrades for existing crewed landing craft and logistics ships. These initiatives aim to move supplies and equipment between dispersed Pacific locations, where maritime transport capacity and access to developed ports are limited. During an August 2026 experiment, Sea Machines installed an autonomous navigation kit on the offshore support vessel HOS Resolution in nine days, illustrating the potential to retrofit existing ships. Army leaders are considering both new drone boats and optionally crewed vessels, rather than announcing a completed transition to an autonomous transport fleet.