BlackSea Technologies Unveils Modular Attack Surface Craft (MASC) USV Family for U.S. Navy

BlackSea Technologies, a leader in autonomous maritime systems, has announced the development of its new family of Modular Attack Surface Craft (MASC) unmanned surface vessels (USVs). Designed to meet the U.S. Navy’s call for modular, multi-mission combatants, the MASC USV aims to accelerate the Navy’s transition to a distributed and survivable future fleet.

Mission-Driven Design

Unlike retrofitted commercial hulls, BlackSea’s MASC USV was designed from the keel up to maximize payload, capacity, and flexibility. The 66-foot aluminum catamaran offers:

• 67,200 pounds of payload capacity and 900 ft² of open deck space

• 198 kWe power to support advanced sensors and weapons

• 3,000 nautical miles range at 10 knots and extended self-deploying range to 10,000 nautical miles

• Top speed of 25 knots, enabling responsive, long-endurance operations

With twice the payload area and electrical power of similar-sized vessels, the platform supports seven missions: Anti-Submarine Warfare (ASW), Anti-Surface Warfare (ASuW), Electronic Warfare, Logistics, Infrastructure Monitoring, Strike, and Mine Warfare (MCM/MIW).

Production-Ready and Rapidly Scalable

Leveraging its proven Global Autonomous Reconnaissance Craft (GARC) production line, currently producing one craft per day, the company is prepared to build and deliver the first fully integrated MASC prototype within six months.

The design shares major subsystems with BlackSea’s fielded GARC systems, ensuring resilience and rapid integration of existing autonomy, command-and-control, and perception systems.

The hull, derived from BlackSea’s operational GARC platform, uses slender twin aluminum hulls for low drag and high stability, enabling safe launch and recovery of containerized payloads. Marine-grade aluminum construction aligns with existing shipyard skillsets.

Powering the craft are dual Volvo Penta D8-IPS600 integrated propulsion units, eliminating shaft alignment during assembly and supported by a global logistics network. The open architecture is built natively on the Navy’s Unmanned Maritime Autonomy Architecture (UMAA), enabling plug-and-play integration and preventing vendor lock-in.

Enabling the Navy’s Future Fleet

The Navy’s MASC program consolidates the goals of its earlier Large and Medium USV initiatives, seeking modular, containerized surface combatants to distribute lethality across the fleet. By combining proven autonomy, fielded production, and a design tailored to naval missions, BlackSea’s MASC USV offers the Navy a decisive advantage in speed to fleet, operational flexibility, and long-term scalability.

“Fleet modernization demands bold steps,” said Chris Devine, CEO of BlackSea. “With our MASC solution, the Navy can field a family of unmanned combatants that are mission-driven, production-ready, and built to scale.”