The USMC is requesting $25.25 million for building and acquiring LRUSVs in the upcoming Fiscal Year.
Naval News reached out to Metal Shark for comment in late June 2023 and received this reply via email.
“We’re proud to have delivered five LRUSV units and a manned LRUSV contact vessel for the Marine Corps.”
“The LRUSV Contact Vessel is a manned support vessel that has been used alongside the LRUSVs during the EOAs [Early Operational Assessment]. The LRUSV Contact Vessel utilizes our 40 “Defiant” monohull pilothouse patrol boat [PB] platform and is very similar to the “40 PB” we’re building for the US Navy. It seats up to six crew in shock-mitigating seats within the climate-controlled pilothouse. The attached rendering depicts the manned Contact Vessel alongside the optionally-manned LRUSV.”
Josh Stickles, Executive Vice President – Sales & Marketing of Metal Shark
The five delivered LRUSVs can be denoted with a large black number painted on the side of their hulls (03 for example). Naval News understands that the manned Contact Vessel, based off of the 40PB, will transport the Hero-120 loitering munitions’ operators/pilots after the Hero-120 is launched as each munition requires guidance for intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance (ISR), tracking, and targeting.
As for acquiring more manned Contact Vessels, loitering munitions can be remotely-piloted from any U.S. Marine with a loitering munitions controller, wherever that Marine may be (inside a ship, rotorcraft, ground combat vehicle, on the ground, or inside a structure) as long as the datalink is established and loitering munition is piloted within range.
The Hero-120 loitering munition is developed by UVision in Israel and has a three-gimbal electro-optical camera for ISR, targeting, and attacking as a battery propels a rear electric propeller. It has a maximum range of 37 miles (60 kilometers) and can stay aloft for around 60 minutes and can attack land and sea targets with its 10 pounds (4.5 kilogram) warhead.
Although Metal Shark replied to Naval News in late June 2023, their USMC LRUSV contact did not reply regarding LRUSV discussion criteria and therefore Naval News was unable to submit questions or conduct an interview for more LRUSV information.
However, Naval News reached out to the U.S. Marine Corps’ Systems Command in early July 2023 to ask the following questions. A USMC spokesperson replied via email with these answers.
Q: When did the LRUSV start sea trials?
A: “Testing was conducted in October-November 2022 and April-May 2023.”
Q: When was the first LRUSV delivered to the USMC and how many will be fielded?
A: “The first prototypes were delivered [in] Jan[uary] 2022. Any follow-on deliveries and/or fielding to the Fleet Marine Force is pre-decisional.”
Q: When will the LRUSV achieve Initial Operational Capability (IOC)?
A: “IOC is pre-decisional.” (InsideDefense reported in September 2020 that the Marine Corps hopes to field its LRUSV sometime between fiscal years 2025 and 2027).
Naval News Comments
For online speculative discussion, optionally-manned LRUSVs can fulfill many roles and missions for the U.S. Marines once fielded in numbers. Once deployed, LRUSVs can be used for mass loitering munitions fire; scouting for larger warships; decoys to protect more high-value targets; act as electronic warfare and sensor nodes; perform infrared search and track (IRST) since LRUSVs have a forward looking infrared (FLIR) turret on their mast; act as rescue boats, and carry logistics payloads or armament.
Online public comments suggest that LRUSVs should have a self-defense weapon installed such as a gun remote weapons station although there is no indication that this will occur at present.
For LRPFs, the 37 miles (60 kilometers) range of the Hero-120 gives the Marines a much better guided munition than the 5 mile (8 kilometers) range of Hellfire anti-tank guided missiles aboard the AH-1Z “Viper” attack helicopter. And with the divestment of the USMC’s M1A1 Main Battle Tanks, the Marines can engage in precision direct fires from afar to attack land targets from the sea without having to wait to unload the M1A1s from landing craft to engage on land with their 120mm cannons that have a range of around 4,000 meters (4,400 yards).
While it remains unknown how many LRUSVs the USMC intends to acquire, having LRUSVs and the manned Contact Vessel(s) should provide the U.S. Marines with a capability of over-the-horizon LRPF that they never had before. So far, the USMC now has 40 Hero-120s mounted across five LRUSVs as of July 2023.
