It’s a big bet on the future of naval warfare: the development of a small and autonomous uncrewed surface vessel (USV), licensed and built by small Australian shipyards for a fraction of the cost of the more usual naval ships. The Leidos Sea Archer, enabled by artificial intelligence, with a range of 1500 nautical miles and capable of speeds up to 40 knots, can carry 900kg of payload – supplies, weapons, tactical gear – in an enclosed space. It can operate safely in extremely rough seas (sea states 4 and 5) and it carries communications gear for over-the-horizon transmission.
Leidos Australia has funded the development of this ocean surface drone without a contract from the Australian Defence Force or any other Australian agency. Following successful open ocean and harbour trials, the Sea Archer is ready to be deployed to roam the oceans, gather intelligence and, if necessary, shadow and block adversaries. At 40ft (about 12m) the Sea Archer is comparatively small and it can be shipped by road, sea or air to relevant locations. Leidos sees the Sea Archer as a critically important capability considering Australia’s literal and geopolitical position in the world, surrounded by ocean and with a comparatively small defence force.
“The nature of warfare is changing,” says Leidos Australia international science and technology director Kevin Quarderer, formerly a US Navy captain and aviator. “Leidos wanted to get out in front of where we think Australia wants to be and where the ADF needs to be, so they can take on whatever the threats are in the future.
“So that was the catalyst that got us going on this program. If you want to be able to engage the threat; if you want to be able to move at speed and manoeuvre to launch kinetic effects, explosives and those types of things; you need a platform that can complement your detection capabilities. We think Sea Archer is a vehicle that can do all that.”
The Sea Archer’s sophisticated communications equipment ensures the surveillance and reconnaissance data the vessel collects can be transmitted to recipients at a great distance, he says.
Starting with the remarkable success of drones used by Ukraine to counter Russia’s invasion, autonomous vessels and sensors have become the focus of future conflicts. One operator can control a number of small and replaceable drones from a place of relative safety, minimising the risk to human life and the capital cost of warfare.
The ADF is already invested in drones, operational both in the air and under the ocean surface, and defence forces around the world have taken great strides in adopting small and autonomous drones and vessels in their intelligence, reconnaissance and surveillance armouries. “There’s competition for the medium uncrewed surface vessel that’s going on right now,” Quarderer says. “I am convinced that many other countries are watching the outcome of the Sea Archer trials.” The UK also adopted uncrewed systems, he says, and there’s interest across the Indo-Pacific.
Australia’s 2026 National Defence Strategy underscores the importance of self-reliance, resilience and closer collaboration with Australian industry, along with faster and nimbler development and contracting.
“The strategy includes autonomous vehicles,” Quarderer says, “and Leidos is providing interested parties with updates on the Sea Archer’s certification.
“Both the Royal Australian Navy and the Australian Army have been kept informed, as the Army is interested in the potential to support littoral and coastal manoeuvre operations.
“There is also increasing interest from government, defence and international stakeholders in the capability and its potential applications.”
Made from aluminium, and powered by two 300 horsepower diesel engines, the Sea Archer can be constructed in smaller shipyards.
The Sea Archer could be used to monitor the arrival of illegal immigrants (and potentially rescue them from sinking boats); to detect and surveil boats fishing illegally in Australian waters; to rescue stranded sailors; and to resupply offshore deployments. It could work alone, with a fleet of other Navy ships, or in a team of Sea Archers.
Multiple Sea Archer craft can be operated by a single controller, who can change the craft’s mission as and when required. These teaming vessels can also communicate with one another. To date, the vessels do not have a strike capability, Quarderer says, but “it is an aspirational path that we’re going towards”.
The real question about Sea Archers, he says, is not whether they can manage and complete a given mission: “It’s how many different missions does the ADF want to give to USVs, and then we can start talking about how many hulls they need.”
Made from aluminium, and powered by two 300 horsepower diesel engines, the Sea Archer can be constructed in smaller shipyards, which allows for a distributed supply chain, and 16 Australian boatbuilders have told Leidos they are ready and willing to begin manufacture, Quarderer says.
“We went with commercial off-the-shelf components so it can be built cheaply. And if you are in a battle situation and you need to do repairs, it’s relatively easy to grab them off the shelf, versus having to go back for a bespoke, manufactured power plant.”
A Sea Archer vessel, one of the Leidos portfolio of uncrewed maritime vessels, is currently on trial in the US. Two of those Leidos portfolio vessels are on active operational deployment with a US carrier strike group, Quarderer says, although he declined to confirm whether they were in use in the Middle East.
“A vessel like Sea Archer could bring in ammunition, medication, weapon platforms, systems; and it can do it in a way that would be autonomous,” he says. Because the Sea Archer has an enclosed payload compartment, combatants will never be sure whether the vessel is carrying weapons, he says.
“It can operate in contested environments where people maybe are trying to shoot at the vessels, and so by doing that, the USV would take on those risky missions to resupply Australian defence forces that are in the fight without putting additional people at risk. That’s the vision we have.”