Splash’s tiny Typhoon USV is evolving into an autonomous drone-launching mothership

Reporting circulating September 2 highlighted Splash’s 11-foot Typhoon, which reportedly has a 600+ nautical-mile range and 50+ knot sustained speed and has now been fitted with a launcher for one-way attack drones. The vessel previously demonstrated autonomous entry into the well deck of the moving USS Essex during RIMPAC without continuous radio or satellite control. Splash is positioning the design against DIU requirements for small, long-range USVs capable of deploying aerial drones—another example of cross-domain autonomy, where an unmanned vessel becomes the carrier for additional autonomous systems.