Navy Creates New ‘Marketplace’ for Medium Unmanned Surface Vessels After Cancelling MASC Program

The Navy cancelled the Modular Attack Surface Craft program launched last year and is creating a new acquisition strategy for unmanned vessels, a service official told reporters Thursday. With the new Golden Fleet concept, the Navy wants a medium unmanned surface vessel that can perform multiple missions, a goal that the prior MASC program was too narrowly tailored to achieve, Portfolio Acquisition Executive for Robotics and Autonomous Systems Rebecca Gassler said during a media roundtable. Gassler declined to specify the missions for the rebranded medium unmanned service vessel program, but said testing later this year will evaluate whether the proposed