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Serco, DARPA Launch NOMARS USX-1 Defiant
Published on 04/03/2025
By Aaron-Matthew Lariosa
In News
Serco, DARPA Launch NOMARS USX-1 Defiant
The NOMARS program’s prototype vessel, USX-1 Defiant, completed
construction in February 2025. DARPA photo
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NOMARS envisions a cost-effective USV concept for the U.S. Navy through
a design philosophy that excludes all crewed features.
Serco launched the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency’s No
Manning Required Ship program medium unmanned surface vessel prototype,
USX-1 Defiant, at Nichols Brothers Boat Builders shipyard last month in
preparation for a series of trials that aim to bring a cost-effective
USV to the U.S. Navy.
From the design’s outset, the 180-foot-long, 240-ton vessel was
designed without considering human habitation or protection features.
According to DARPA, the NOMARS program “intends to demonstrate
significant advantages,” including at-sea reliability, hydrodynamic
efficiency, and stealthy features.
“The NOMARS program aims to challenge the traditional naval architecture
model, designing a seaframe (the ship without mission systems) from the
ground up with no provision, allowance, or expectation for humans on
board,” stated the DARPA release.
Serco was selected to construct the demonstrator by DARPA over Leidos
Gibbs and Cox in 2022. The program, originally launched in 2020, looks
to design a Medium USV with unprecedented reliability and availability.
Ryan Maatta, a Marine Engineer Manager with Serco overseeing the NOMARS
project, told Naval News at the annual Surface Navy Association
symposium that the program’s key features include a 90% reliability at
sea for a year and an autonomous refueling capability. USVs Mariner and
Ranger demonstrated SERCO’s refueling capability in a test last
September. Maatta also confirmed that Defiant would undergo two months
of sea trials before “a very large and extensive demonstration of the
vessel and its capabilities.”
The DARPA NOMARS program has successfully launched the USX-1 Defiant, a
180’, 240-metric ton medium unmanned surface vessel designed to
revolutionize autonomous operations at sea. DARPA Photo
“What we’re trying to prove out here is the feasibility of completely
unmanned vessels vs partially unmanned. This is a much larger form
factor, more than anyone has done. A completely unmanned vessel, rather
than an optionally manned vessel,”
Ryan Maatta, Marine Engineer Manager at Serco
While the USV’s deck was covered by a tarp in photos released by DARPA,
Serco’s concept models include one BAE Adaptable Deck Launcher and a
container. The company’s Large USV concept, which Maatta described as
the Second World War-era destroyer escort of the future, comes equipped
with four Adaptable Deck Launchers for a complement of 16 strike-length
Mark 41 missile cells.
Defiant is unique in this regard, as previously tested USVs such as
Nomad and Ranger were retrofitted offshore vessels converted for
autonomous operations. Sailors were embarked on the U.S. Navy’s Ghost
Fleet Overlord during its 2023 Indo-Pacific voyage to ensure systems ran
accordingly. Maatha highlighted that the removal of berths, galleys, and
other facilities provides a “much larger payload fraction” on Defiant.
“One of the historic problems with unmanned systems is, they promise to
keep sailors or pilots safe, but they don’t tend to be less expensive
than their manned counterparts. We really worked to change the
philosophy and operating principles so that this is much less expensive
to do the same mission as a manned platform,” said Maatta in a Naval
News interview. SERCO has claimed that it has the capabilities required
to mass produce and maintain vessels similar to NOMARS and its LUSV
concepts.
The NOMARS program and Defiant come amid increased calls from American
policymakers and combat commands for cost-effective USVs, specifically
in a potential Chinese invasion of Taiwan. Admiral Samuel Paparo, head
of the U.S. Indo-Pacific Command, has detailed his use of the vessels in
Hellscape, which aims to flood the Taiwan Strait with drones.
Tags
NOMARS, Serco, USV
Picture of Aaron-Matthew Lariosa
Aaron-Matthew Lariosa
Aaron-Matthew is a freelance writer based in Washington, D.C. He is
currently studying International Relations at American University, and
is interested in U.S. Marine Corps developments in the Pacific and
Philippine Naval modernization efforts.