Spartan Scout USV

U.S. Navy Photo

Spartan Scout was an Advanced Concept Technology Demonstration (ACTD) developed in 2002 by the U.S. Naval Undersea Warfare Center with support from Radix Marine, Northrop Grumman, and Raytheon. The remotely operated unmanned surface vehicle was based on a 7 meter rigid hull inflatable boat and could carry a .50 caliber machine gun and surveillance equipment for force protection missions. A Spartan Scout deployed for testing to the Persian Gulf with USS Gettysburg (CG 64) in December 2003. The French and Singapore navies also participated in the ACTD. The Littoral Combat Ship incorporates USV technology developed in the Spartan ACTD.

An 11 meter version of Spartan has also been developed for LCS USV integration testing.