Artist rendering of the roboship. Source: DARPAThe U.S. Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) and the U.S. Navy are attempting to develop a fleet of entirely autonomous warships.

The design of the so-called NOMARS (No Marines Required Ship), which will be used to perform surveillance functions, will be smaller than manned boats already in use for surveillance by the U.S. Navy.

To achieve a smaller design, the boats will not include space designated for military personnel and cargo such as living quarters, mess and rec areas, a bridge, a combat information center, bathrooms, hallways and windows, for example.

In addition to conducting tedious missions such as conducting surveillance, the ships could also potentially be used to carry missiles and other cargo in wartime, thereby keeping military personnel safe from potential conflict.

Another potential benefit of the unmanned fleet is that its functions would not be interrupted by a pandemic like COVID-19, which has impacted virtually every industry, including sickening several sailors on a number of U.S. warships.

In the meantime, the U.S. Navy and DARPA are also working together on another fleet of ships called large unmanned surface vessels (LUSV). The 200 ft to 300 ft LUSVs are intended to perform scouting functions, detecting threats such as floating magazines, for instance, ahead of manned warships. Those ships are expected to be complete in roughly five years.