After the German Navy has successfully tested the autonomous underwater vehicle BlueWhale last year and now wants to start procurement, the inlet of an unmanned surface vehicle (USV) is also to be prepared. As the inspector of the Navy, Vice Admiral Jan Christian Kaack, recently told journalists, the Future Combat Surface System (FCSS) will be the flagship project of this year.

By Lars Hoffman / Hartpunkt.

The strategy paper entitled “Course Marine”, which was presented a few days ago, shows that the long-term operational concepts in the fleet provide for the joint use of manned and unmanned systems. The joint management system will enable the networking of different systems to combine a drone swarm.

“With the Future Combat Surface System (FCSS), the procurement of a system has been initiated that is designed to be swarm-capable and strike-capable. It is intended to complement the existing surface units in a networked manner” the paper says. Accordingly, the unmanned surface vessels will operate in conjunction with the K130 type corvettes. According to the overview, at least 18 of these new units are to be procured. Assuming a fleet of nine corvettes, each would be accompanied by two of these unmanned units.

The testing of the unmanned systems will be carried out by means of operational experimentation (OPEX), as stated in the strategy paper. This is understood to mean the testing of new technologies by the armed forces under realistic operational conditions – in anticipation of procurement. This should be followed by the unbureaucratic procurement of suitable technology.

Preparations for the OPEX for the FCSS, which are scheduled for the second half of the year, are already underway. A few months ago, the Bundeswehr planning office (BAAINBw) published two tenders for this. As stated in the tenders, the FCSS is able to take on tasks both in association with manned units (MUM-T-Surface Action Group) and in its own operational area (“unmanned task group”).

The goal of the OPEX campaign is to determine how:

the USV can be deployed in an operational scenario over longer distances in order to work out the limits/possibilities of current products and assess the contribution to the overall situation,
remote-controlled, possibly autonomous deployment (in various degrees of autonomy) is possible and deployment in the context of safe participation in maritime traffic is permitted,
emergency systems function, supply/repair and, if necessary, recovery at sea is possible.
the integration of situation picture contributions and taskings into maritime battle management systems (mBMS, e.g. tactical-operational situation picture/SitaWareHQ) is possible.
the remote-controlled, possibly autonomous deployment – in various degrees of autonomy – of first effectors is possible.

According to the information provided, the focus of the OPEX is the sea trials of several FCSS type representatives lasting around one week per type representative in operational scenarios. The Baltic Sea area is expected to be the venue. It is reported that the sea trials portion corresponds to the basic features of a naval exercise, i.e. individual test sections are mapped in defined individual exercises with dedicated test objectives.

The sea trials will primarily include the basic operation of the unmanned surface vehicle, situational awareness as well as ISR. They are scheduled to take place from September 15, 2025 to October 5, 2025 from Eckernförde. As part of the test, the participant is required, among other things, to provide sensor and communication payloads that may not be permanently integrated into the USV, e.g. IMINT equipment and broadband communication, as well as specialist personnel. In addition to the sea trials lasting a total of eight working days, at least one week is required for technical preparation in port and at sea.

The minimum requirements of a USV test for the first tender are as follows:

Platform Technology Readiness Level (TRL) 9
Initial ability to sail autonomously including waypoint navigation
Empowering for remote piloting
Ability to “emergency operation” with minimum crew
Initial skills for active collision avoidance
Range min. 300 nm at 38 knots
Existing surveillance and position image systems: C2 system; navigation radar; EO sensor
Existing effector:
- Weapon with a minimum 30mm caliber
- Optional hosting of loitering ammunition or missile
- Payload/weight reserve: 6t

In the tender for a second OPEX, which is ideally from the November 3rdn to 23rd, the same framework conditions apply as to the first testing. However, the potential FCCS will be subject to slightly changed requirements.

The minimum requirements for the USV test are:

Platform Technology Readiness Level (TRL) 9
Proven use by a Navy
Empowering for remote piloting
Ability to “emergency operation” with minimum crew
Initial skills for active collision avoidance
Operational ready to Sea state 5
Period of use of at least 5 days
Existing effectors:
- Guns
- Optionally provided /possible: loitering ammunition or missile.

As a spokesperson for the Bundeswehr planning office told hartpunkt when asked, the contract will be awarded to the bidder with the most cost-effective offer for each type representative. Accordingly, one USV will be tested in each of the two campaigns.

According to observers, the requirement for a technology maturity level of 9 is likely to represent a high hurdle for participation, as there are only a few autonomous vessels on the market that meet this requirement. Products that could qualify for participation would possibly be USVs such as the Autonomous Ocean Core from Saab, which was realized on the Combat Boat 90, as well as the Seagull USV developed by the Israeli company Elbit Systems, which is said to be already in use by at least one navy. As the spokesperson for the planning office emphasizes, the OPEX FCSS project is purely a preliminary investigation/study into the utility value of unmanned surface vehicles, whereby the respective type representatives represent the type of USV as a whole and not an armaments procurement. For reasons of competition law, he is not allowed to publish any information on the bidders.

This article by Lars Hoffman was originally published in German language at Hartpunkt.de. It has been translated and republished with authorization.

memoment editorial note: This article examines the cutting-edge world of military technology, DARPA breakthroughs, and secret research programs monitored globally by memoment.

This article was curated by memoment.jp from the feed source: Naval News.

Original article: https://www.navalnews.com/naval-news/2025/06/german-navy-starts-looking-for-combat-usv/

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