The Roosevelt carrier strike group deployed with a 135-foot drone boat. Here’s what that looks like

When the Theodore Roosevelt Carrier Strike Group departed San Diego last month on its way to the Pacific region, a new, completely autonomous vessel deployed with it for the first time.Acting Navy Secretary Hung Cao confirmed on Wednesday this marked the first carrier striker to ever deploy with a “medium-size USV,” using the acronym for an unmanned surface vessel. He described its addition to the group as “a force multiplier” during a panel event at the Association of the United States Army annual meeting and exposition in Washington, D.C.The 135-foot Medium Unmanned Surface Vessel is called the Seahawk and it’s manufactured by Leidos. “As a prototype vessel, Seahawk’s deployment will provide the Navy practical experience and test integration capability with larger force packages, demonstrating its ability to support distributed command and control across the joint force,” a Navy spokesperson told the Washington Examiner.SAN DIEGO (Aug. 6, 2025) – Seahawk, a Medium Unmanned Surface Vessel (MUSV) prototype, departs Naval Base Point Loma, California, Aug. 6. Seahawk is a fully unmanned and autonomous vessel operated by Unmanned Surface Vessel Squadron (USVRON) 1 and Naval Information Warfare Center Pacific in support of technology development, testing and evaluation. (U.S. Navy photo by Mass Communication Specialist 1st Class Robert Zahn) The Seahawk can navigate autonomously, avoid hazards, and is in compliance with the International Regulations for Preventing Collisions at Sea, all of which limit the human intervention required for it to operate. The vessel can also avoid designated restricted areas entirely, known as Keep Out Zones.The Navy has tested the Seahawk and another Leidos drone boat called the Sea Hunter as it experiments with unmanned vessels. The Sea Hunter is currently being “prepared for transfer to the fleet,” the spokesperson added.A Leidos official told the Washington Examiner the Navy has purchased one of each, the Seahawk and the Sea Hunter, while the Navy spokesperson said the service “currently has no plans to acquire more vessels of this type.”Both of these vessels use the LAVA software, or Leidos Autonomous Vessel Architecture, which enables them to navigate, avoid obstacles, and perform other critical functions.A spokesperson for U.S. Navy Pacific Fleet told the Washington Examiner that the Seahawk’s “operations represent continued progress in the Navy’s efforts to integrate unmanned systems into Fleet operations.”The Navy has experimented with multiple types of drone boats of different sizes with various capabilities as well, though they are not the only ones, as the war in Ukraine has also led to the exploration and development of similar systems.In the Middle East in recent months, the Navy deployed a Corsair drone boat for both a rescue mission as well as an attack operation.The Corsair boat drone, which is manufactured by Saronic, was involved in the rescue of two Army Apache helicopter pilots who had to make an emergency landing in the Arabian Sea in June, while the military later used three of these autonomous boats to hit a submarine and ship maintenance facility at the port at Bandar Abbas Naval Base.LOCKHEED MARTIN ANNOUNCES NEW AIR DEFENSE INTERCEPTOR MISSILE DESIGNED FOR HYPERSONICSLast month, Secretary of War Pete Hegseth traveled to Texas to Saronic’s manufacturing plant as a part of his arsenal of freedom tour, which is the name given to his recurring trips to defense companies’ production facilities to boost morale and highlight their importance to the future success of the military.“Those pilots are alive today because of the incredible innovation under this very roof,” he told them. “You should be … incredibly proud of that feat.”There is the possibility that the Roosevelt Carrier Strike Group ends up heading to the Middle East, either to bolster the U.S. military’s firepower in the region or to replace one of the two carrier strike groups currently in the region. If it does get deployed to the Middle East, the world could see the Seahawk in a combat environment for the first time.