The Matchbox RC Boats of RIMPAC
We’ve covered lots of RIMPAC 26 stuff, but some small players are easily missed.
We speak, of course, to the ever-growing array of unmanned surface vehicles present in the exercise.
First off, let’s give it up to the U.S. Navy Global Autonomous Reconnaissance Craft (GARC) USVs from USVDIV (Unmanned Surface Vessel Division) 32, which took part in the SINKEX of ex-USS Peleliu (LHA 5).
A released Navy video shows two of the boats circling the battered hulk of the 40,000-ton ‘phib– and the old Peleliu soaked up the damage for sure– before they closed in to mimic a Japanese Shinyo suicide speedboat of 1944; only the remote operators got to live.
The Black Sea Tech GARC runs 15.8 feet, can make 40 knots in a sprint, and carry a half-ton payload. Keep in mind the small boat used in the October 2000 attack on the USS Cole is believed to have carried only between 400 and 700 pounds of C-4 plastic explosives; it created a 40×40-foot hole in the DDG that nearly sent her to the bottom.
Of note, USVDIV 32 GARCs performed swarm exercises with USS Mount Whitney (LCC 20) during Baltic Operations (BALTOPS) 2026 last month.
Besides the GARCs, a “digitally controlled surface vessel” (DCSV) launched from Sand Island, near Honolulu, delivered equipment for a 3D printer aboard Wasp-class amphibious assault ship USS Essex (LHD-2), completing what organizers describe as the “Department of the Navy’s first digitally-crewed surface vessel resupply of a Navy ship.”
Following the delivery, the DCSV continued its mission by transporting drone components to the 25th Infantry Division’s Lightning Lab, where Marines and Soldiers assembled the systems before deploying them for testing at Makua Range. From manufacturing and maritime delivery to assembly and operational employment, the end-to-end process was completed in less than 24 hours.
Not sure exactly what this thing is, but it has a very low-profile vessel (LPV) narco-sub flavor.
There was also a Splash Industries Typhoon used in the Essex delivery mission.
The sizzle reel of the DCSV headed to Essex:
Keep in mind that the Navy is getting real-time combat feedback from their USV fleet as well, with at least three Saronic Corsair USVs laden with explosive packages used against an Iranian submarine at the port of Bandar Abbas earlier this month.