{"id":35104,"date":"2020-01-21T15:50:13","date_gmt":"2020-01-21T15:50:13","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/c4isrnet\/uncategorized\/2020\/01\/21\/darpas-latest-mad-science-experiment-a-ship-designed-completely-without-humans\/"},"modified":"2026-08-08T00:17:43","modified_gmt":"2026-08-08T00:17:43","slug":"darpas-latest-mad-science-experiment-a-ship-designed-completely-without-humans","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/c4isrnet\/unmanned\/2020\/01\/21\/darpas-latest-mad-science-experiment-a-ship-designed-completely-without-humans\/","title":{"rendered":"DARPA\u2019s latest mad science experiment: A ship designed to operate completely without humans"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">WASHINGTON \u2014 The <a href=\"https:\/\/www.defensenews.com\/breaking-news\/2019\/12\/17\/darpa-head-resigns-moving-on-to-industry\/\" target=\"_blank\">U.S. Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency<\/a> has launched its newest foray into <a href=\"https:\/\/www.defensenews.com\/naval\/2020\/01\/10\/does-the-us-navy-have-its-robot-warship-concept-all-wrong\/\" target=\"_blank\">unleashing robot warships<\/a> on the world\u2019s seas: NOMARS.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">No, it\u2019s not in reference to the former Red Sox standout infielder Nomar Garciaparra. The acronym stands for \u201cNo Manning Required, Ship,\u201d and it\u2019s part of DARPA\u2019s plan to take its <a href=\"https:\/\/www.defensenews.com\/naval\/2019\/01\/15\/the-us-navy-moves-toward-unleashing-killer-robot-ships-on-the-worlds-oceans\/\" target=\"_blank\">Sea Hunter drone ship<\/a> a step further.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The idea is to design a ship from the keel up that will never have a human on board.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cNOMARS will challenge the traditional naval architecture paradigm, designing a seaframe from the ground up with no provision, allowance, or expectation for humans at sea,\u201d according to a solicitation posted by DARPA.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cBy removing the human element from all ship design considerations, NOMARS will demonstrate significant advantages, to include size, cost (procurement, operations, and sustainment), at-sea reliability, survivability to sea-state, survivability to adversary actions (stealth considerations, resistance to tampering, etc.), and hydrodynamic efficiency (hull optimization without consideration for crew safety or comfort).\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\t<aside class=\"smg-interstitial-link wp-block-smg-interstitial-link\">\n\t\t<a href=\"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/defensenews\/digital-show-dailies\/surface-navy-association\/2020\/01\/13\/heres-5-things-you-should-know-about-the-us-navys-plans-for-big-autonomous-missile-boats\/\" class=\"smg-interstitial-link__inner\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"smg-interstitial-link__media\">\n\t\t\t\t\t<img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"300\" height=\"219\" src=\"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/fsv_ghost.JPG.jpg?w=300\" class=\"smg-interstitial-link__image wp-post-image\" alt=\"\" \/>\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"smg-interstitial-link__content\">\n\t\t\t\t<span class=\"smg-interstitial-link__kicker\">Related<\/span>\n\t\t\t\t<h3 class=\"smg-interstitial-link__title\">5 things you should know about the US Navy\u2019s plans for autonomous missile boats<\/h3>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<p class=\"smg-interstitial-link__excerpt\">Here&#039;s everything you need to know about the Navy&#039;s effort to field a large unmanned surface vessel, and what&#039;s ahead in 2020.<\/p>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/a>\n\t<\/aside>\n\t\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The U.S. Navy<a href=\"https:\/\/www.defensenews.com\/naval\/2019\/12\/21\/the-us-navy-gets-its-large-unmanned-surface-vessels-in-2020-with-strings-attached\/\" target=_blank> is enthusiastically pursuing <\/a>a new architecture for its surface and subsurface fleets that gradually reduces dependence on expensive manned platforms for many traditional functions like surveillance, targeting, electronic warfare and strike warfare.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">But one of the issues with that architecture is the problem of maintaining them without a crew aboard. To get after that aspect, the NOMARS program is going to split into two tracks.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cTrack A (Integrated Seaframe Design and Maintenance) will create a framework to evaluate potential design trades against performance requirements, both in terms of the design of the human-less seaframe, as well as the maintenance architectures that would be needed to operate the seaframe,\u201d the solicitation read.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cTrack B (Enabling Sub-system Technologies) will allow for agile development of relevant subsystem technologies, with a focus on self-adaptive health management for systems relevant to and of similar complexity as that associated with the hull, mechanical, and electrical systems of a seaframe.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">DARPA held a proposal session Jan. 13.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The ship, which will not immediately integrate payloads, should leave room for that integration later.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cNOMARS focuses on exploring novel approaches to the design of the seaframe (the ship without mission systems) while accommodating representative payload size, weight, and power,\u201d according to DARPA\u2019s website.<\/p>\n\n\n\t<aside class=\"smg-interstitial-link wp-block-smg-interstitial-link\">\n\t\t<a href=\"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/defensenews\/naval\/2020\/01\/02\/fleet-commander-directs-the-us-navys-surface-force-to-develop-concepts-for-unmanned-ships\/\" class=\"smg-interstitial-link__inner\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"smg-interstitial-link__media\">\n\t\t\t\t\t<img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"300\" height=\"158\" src=\"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/sea-hunter-1.jpg.jpg?w=300\" class=\"smg-interstitial-link__image wp-post-image\" alt=\"\" \/>\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"smg-interstitial-link__content\">\n\t\t\t\t<span class=\"smg-interstitial-link__kicker\">Related<\/span>\n\t\t\t\t<h3 class=\"smg-interstitial-link__title\">Fleet commander directs US Navy\u2019s surface force to develop concepts for unmanned ships<\/h3>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<p class=\"smg-interstitial-link__excerpt\">The U.S. Navy is making moves to develop concepts for the integration of unmanned surface vessels into its surface fleet.<\/p>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/a>\n\t<\/aside>\n\t\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><b>Wrong approach?<\/b><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The Navy is currently pursuing both a large and medium unmanned surface vessel that can perform missions for the surface Navy as a means of increasing aggregate naval power without wrapping a $2 billion hull around 96 missile tubes, as Chief of Naval Operations Adm. Michael Gilday has said publicly, referencing the Arleigh Burke-class destroyer.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">A recent study by the Center for Strategic and Budgetary Assessments said the Navy was barking up the wrong tree in its pursuit of an optionally manned large unmanned surface vessel, saying it should instead pursue an \u201coptionally unmanned\u201d corvette that could perform the normal range of peacetime surface Navy missions and perhaps be used as an unmanned external missile magazine in the event of conflict.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The drive toward integrating unmanned surface vehicles in the force, which Navy officials suggested could make up a significant portion of the future fleet\u2019s force structure, was kicked off in earnest with the rollout of the 2020 budget.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Senior Navy officials have talked about the LUSV as a kind of external missile magazine that can autonomously navigate to and integrate with the force, then shoot its missiles and return for reload, keeping the big manned surface combatants in the fight and fielded longer.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>The Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency is taking its Sea Hunter concept to the next level.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":7,"featured_media":66139,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_yoast_wpseo_meta-robots-noindex":"","_yoast_wpseo_meta-robots-nofollow":"","_yoast_wpseo_canonical":"","_acf":"","_yoast_wpseo_primary_category":21,"_jetpack_feature_clip_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","_smg_distribution_targets":[]},"categories":[106,29,32,21],"tags":[],"coauthors":[3301],"class_list":["post-35104","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-daily-brief","category-home","category-newsletters","category-unmanned"],"acf":{"subheadline":"","legacy_arc_id":"IMSD4MHY5FCEXA3LYJ7BJKO22A","arc_canonical_url":"\/naval\/2020\/01\/21\/darpas-latest-mad-science-experiment-a-ship-designed-completely-without-humans\/","remove_feature_photo":false,"is_sponsored":false,"subtype":"","redirect_url":"","disable_inline_ads":false,"native_logo_pretext":"Presented By:"},"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO Premium plugin v26.0 (Yoast SEO v28.1) - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-premium-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>DARPA\u2019s latest mad science experiment: A ship designed to operate completely without humans - C4ISRNet<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"The Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency is taking its Sea Hunter concept to the next level.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"noindex, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"DARPA\u2019s latest mad science experiment: A ship designed to operate completely without humans\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"The Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency is taking its Sea Hunter concept to the next level.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/c4isrnet\/unmanned\/2020\/01\/21\/darpas-latest-mad-science-experiment-a-ship-designed-completely-without-humans\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"C4ISRNet\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2020-01-21T15:50:13+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2026-08-08T00:17:43+00:00\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"David B. 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