The U.S. Navy is moving swiftly to integrate and deploy unmanned surface vessels, with three USV divisions slated to be created this month (January 2026) week and two medium USVs to be operating under fleet control this year, Military Times reports.
Capt. Garrett Miller, the commodore of Surface Development Group One, made the announcements last week at the Surface Navy Association’s 38th National Symposium.
Miller confirmed that three early command USV divisions will be formed, with assumption of command set to take place next week in San Diego.
Miller said that the service’s long-anticipated Seahawk and Sea Hunter medium USVs will no longer be experimental and will be deployed this year, telling Defense News that the Seahawk will become part of a carrier strike group. The deployments will take place beginning in the next month.
Miller said that the Navy grew the number of small USVs it had in the force from four to hundreds within 2025 alone, and has since established a warfare officer career path for unmanned systems.
He added that the Navy will continue to acquire USVs that have containerized payloads, which could deliver a variety of kinetic effects.
