Textron Systems has secured a contract from the US Navy to supply an unmanned surface vessel for trials conducted under the AUKUS trilateral partnership. Established in 2021, AUKUS focuses on the development and testing of advanced crewed and uncrewed technologies to enhance allied military capabilities in the Indo-Pacific theater.
The agreement includes the delivery of Textron’s Tsunami drone boat, as well as engineering and training support for Navy personnel. The vessel will be transferred to the Naval Information Warfare Center Pacific, a San Diego-based command responsible for evaluating cutting-edge technologies, including autonomous maritime platforms.
Introduced in early 2025, the Tsunami USV was designed as an affordable and rapidly deployable platform based on a commercial hull design. It is equipped with Textron’s Common Unmanned Surface Vehicle autonomy suite and is powered by a gasoline engine, allowing for flexible operations across a wide range of mission profiles.
The Tsunami USV can operate in Sea State 4 environments, has a range of more than 1,000 nautical miles, and supports payloads of up to 1,000 pounds. Available in multiple hull sizes, the system builds on Textron’s growing footprint in naval unmanned systems, following the delivery of a 24-foot variant to the Naval Surface Warfare Center Dahlgren Division earlier this year.
