Autonomous vessels have to follow the rules of the road around ships still driven by people, and undersea vehicles cannot use GPS at all. This page collects what official sources say about maritime autonomy programs and the problems in proving these systems safe.
Public sources, checked October 14, 2026.
GAO reported in June 2026 that the Navy published its Unmanned Campaign Framework in 2021 to speed iterative development of robotic autonomous systems, but as of March 2025 had not implemented those changes. Source
In August 2024 the Navy and the Defense Innovation Unit jointly prototyped small unmanned surface vessels under Replicator, evaluating production capacity, vehicle performance and autonomy, with awards chosen from more than 100 applicants. Source
On September 29, 2026 the Navy announced 30 medium unmanned surface vessels from three builders, following Phase I at sea testing that evaluated whether vessels navigate autonomously according to the international collision avoidance rules (COLREGs). Source
The International Maritime Organization adopted a non mandatory MASS Code for autonomous cargo ships on May 22, 2026, effective July 1, 2026, with a mandatory code expected to be adopted by July 2030. Source
Darkstar is an early stage simulator project for replaying adversarial scenarios against autonomous systems on real terrain, designed for drone and swarm autonomy teams first. It is not a finished product: design partners help decide which scenarios it replays first, so the work fits their own evaluations.
Darkstar is an early stage simulator project for replaying adversarial scenarios against autonomous systems on real terrain. We are looking for design partners to shape what it tests first.
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