The US Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) has awarded Virginia-based marine engineering firm Gibbs and Cox a multi-phase contract to develop and demonstrate a connectorless "sea train" concept using unmanned surface vessels.
Under the Articulated Resistance Minimized Autonomous Deployment Asset (ARMADA) project, the new vessels will be developed to enable autonomous long-range operation with reduced reliance on either in-port or at-sea refueling.
Gibbs and Cox said the project is currently in the base development phase which has a corresponding value of approximately US$9.45 million.