Earth:NOMARS
NOMARS (No Manning Required, Ship) is a concept for a range of ships and smaller watercraft operating as unmanned surface vessels (USV) for the US Department of Defense, developed by the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA).[1]
The USV concept crafts range in size and form. Examples include:
- Sea Hunter, a DARPA-developed trimaran USV launched in 2016.
- A dual hulled platform, proposed in a concept by Austal USA.[2]
- A single hulled missile ship with a propulsor and steering pod.[3]
By 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).[4]
In 2022, ship designer Serco was selected to develop the NOMARS program through building, testing, and demonstrating the first generation ship.[5]
In December 2024, NOMARS completed a successful first test of at-sea refueling designed for use with the USV Defiant.[6][7]
USX-1 Defiant, the 180-foot-long, 240-metric ton medium USV, was first seen in public in March 2025 near the U.S. Navy's Naval Air Station (NAS) Whidbey Island.[8] USX-1 Defiant does not have any mission or combat systems installed onboard and will conduct sea trials in the spring of 2025.[9]
References
- ↑ "No Manning Required Ship (NOMARS)". https://www.darpa.mil/research/programs/no-manning-required-ship.
- ↑ DARPA’s latest mad science experiment: A ship designed to operate completely without humans, David B. Larter, DefenseNews.com, 2020-01-21
- ↑ Here’s the DARPA project it says could pull the Navy a decade forward in unmanned technology, David B. Larter, C4ISRNet.com, 2020-05-07
- ↑ Larter, David (2020-01-21). "DARPA’s latest mad science experiment: A ship designed to operate completely without humans" (in en). https://www.defensenews.com/naval/2020/01/21/darpas-latest-mad-science-experiment-a-ship-designed-completely-without-humans/.
- ↑ "No Manning Required Ship (NOMARS) Program to Build, Test, Demonstrate First Ship". DARPA. 22 August 2022. https://www.darpa.mil/news-events/2022-08-22.
- ↑ Jamison, Miles (2024-12-23). "DARPA Tests USV Autonomous Refueling Capability" (in en-US). https://executivegov.com/2024/12/darpa-tests-unmanned-surface-vehicle-autonomous-refueling/.
- ↑ "Automated fueling-at-sea test completed for unmanned surface vehicle program | DARPA" (in en). https://www.darpa.mil/news/2024/nomars-success.
- ↑ Joseph Trevithick (4 March 2025). "Mysterious Naval Vessel Spotted In Washington State Is A New DARPA Drone Ship". The War Zone. https://www.twz.com/sea/mysterious-naval-vessel-spotted-in-washington-state-is-a-new-darpa-drone-ship.
- ↑ Katz, Justin (2025-03-05). "No sailors in sight: DARPA launches warship designed 'from the ground up' to be truly unmanned" (in en-US). https://breakingdefense.com/2025/03/no-sailors-in-sight-darpa-launches-warship-designed-from-the-ground-up-to-be-truly-unmanned/.
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