US Navy's Seahawk Unmanned Surface Vessel Is First to Deploy With a Carrier Strike Group
The US Navy deployed Leidos-built Seahawk, a medium uncrewed surface vessel, alongside the USS Theodore Roosevelt carrier strike group on October 8, marking the first such deployment with an American carrier formation. The approximately 41-metre trimaran uses remote supervision and autonomous navigation software for route planning and collision avoidance and is intended to support maritime sensing missions. Seahawk has previously participated in fleet exercises and rehearsed refuelling procedures with a crewed destroyer ahead of deployment. Its exact mission payload, configuration-specific endurance and operating area have not been disclosed, so the deployment establishes fleet integration rather than a quantified operational performance record.