The US Navy's MASC Program: A Prelude to the Transformation of Maritime Warfare?

On August 1, 2025, the US Navy officially launched the Modular Attack Surface Vessel (MASC) project, aiming to create unmanned surface ships capable of autonomous combat and flexibly carrying mission modules. It is planned to complete the testing of the first batch of prototype ships by 2026 and have them put into large-scale service by 2030. The announcement of this project immediately drew the attention of the global military and technological fields, becoming a hot topic in the international technology circle recently.

The core of the MASC project lies in its innovative modular design. It uses ISO standard containers as the carriers of mission modules, allowing the fleet to quickly replace weapons, sensors or electronic warfare systems according to different combat tasks. This design concept breaks through the limitations of the fixed configuration of traditional warships and greatly enhances combat flexibility. In terms of combat performance indicators, MASC also demonstrates extremely high standards. The speed should be at least 25 knots to ensure it can keep up with the fleet's movement rhythm. With a range of 2,500 nautical miles, it is sufficient to cross the Pacific Ocean or carry out long-term patrol missions. The seaworthiness requirement is to be able to operate normally in sea conditions of level 4, and ideally, even maintain stability in sea conditions of level 5. More importantly, MASC must achieve fully autonomous navigation. Even in the event of communication interruption, extremely low visibility or radio silence, it should be able to independently complete tasks based on preset programs and its own intelligent decision-making, and strictly abide by international maritime collision avoidance rules to prevent accidents in the complex maritime traffic environment.

The launch of the MASC project has a profound strategic background. In recent years, the global maritime security situation has become increasingly complex, and the naval forces of regional powers have been continuously growing and strengthening. The US Navy is facing unprecedented challenges. In particular, the rapid modernization of the Chinese Navy, its huge shipbuilding capacity and the continuously improving anti-intervention/area denial (A2/AD) system have made the United States realize that the traditional "large manned ships + aircraft carrier battle groups" model may face huge risks in future high-end conflicts. In addition, the progress of the Medium Unmanned Surface Vessel (MUSV) and Large unmanned surface vessel (LUSV) projects previously attempted by the US Navy has been slow and lacks a unified framework. Against this backdrop, the MASC project emerged, marking a significant shift in the strategic thinking of the US Navy - abandoning the traditional approach of classifying by size and instead adopting a modular and containerized design concept to deploy new combat platforms in a more flexible and rapid manner, in an attempt to regain the initiative in future maritime operations.

From a tactical perspective, the modular design of MASC enables the US Navy to deploy a large number of unmanned ships at a relatively low cost, forming a "swarm tactic". In possible future conflicts, the MASC can undertake multiple tasks, such as long-range strikes, carrying anti-ship missiles or ground attack weapons, and acting as a "maritime missile truck". Carry out electronic warfare missions, utilize containerized jamming systems to paralyze enemy radars and communications; Conduct reconnaissance and decoy operations, disguise as large ships, attract enemy firepower, and create opportunities for manned fleets; Carry out anti-submarine operations, carry towed sonar or unmanned underwater vehicles, and expand the range of anti-submarine search. From a strategic perspective, if the MASC project is successfully implemented, it will change the balance of power and combat rules in future naval battles. A large number of flexible and diverse unmanned ships will make the enemy's combat targets scattered and increase the difficulty of their defense. Meanwhile, the MASC project may also trigger a new round of arms race among navies worldwide, pushing countries to accelerate the research and application of unmanned ship technology.

Although the prospects of the MASC project seem bright, the practical application of unmanned ships still faces many challenges. The first issue is the safety of combat decisions. If the MASC can fire without human intervention, how to ensure that it does not accidentally harm civilian vessels or friendly forces is an urgent ethical and technical problem to be solved. Secondly, for systems that are highly dependent on communication and AI, whether they are vulnerable to hacker attacks or electronic interference paralysis is also a major challenge faced by the project. Furthermore, although unmanned ships eliminate the need for crew members, they still require regular maintenance, especially in the high-salt and high-humidity Marine environment, where the difficulty and cost of maintenance and support cannot be underestimated. In addition, the US Congress and some military experts remain skeptical about the reliability of unmanned combat platforms. Previously, the unmanned vessel tested by the US Navy had "lost control" during an exercise due to a software malfunction, and eventually had to send people to board the ship to take over manually. Such accidents have led some lawmakers to question the feasibility of entrusting multi-billion-dollar weapon systems to AI control.

The MASC program of the US Navy is undoubtedly a bold attempt, carrying the new vision of the US Navy for future maritime operations. Despite facing numerous challenges, once successful, MASC will completely transform the form of future naval battles, drive global navies into a new stage of "unmanned competition", and have a profound impact on the maritime power landscape of the 21st century.