An exercise conducted at RIMPAC 2026 has seen a U.S. warship replenished at sea while underway by a Splash Industries uncrewed surface vessel (USV).
The Typhoon drone boat this week docked itself into the well deck of U.S. Navy Wasp-class amphibious assault ship USS Essex off the coast of Hawaii.
The operation, described as a world first, was overseen by CAMRE, the Consortium for Advanced Manufacturing Research and Education at the Naval Postgraduate School (NPS) based out of Monterey, California. Also involved was drone manufacturer Splash Industries and FLEETWERX, a DEFENSEWERX innovation hub serving the NPS.
As per a CAMRE statement, parts produced shoreside by multiple services were delivered by the USV to the USS Essex.
During the same 24-hour period the drone boat then also delivered uncrewed aerial system (UAS) components manufactured aboard the ship by United States Marine Corps personnel back to shore.
Those parts were assembled ashore by US Army soldiers and marines and then flown during a counter-UAS (CUAS) event as part of the wider RIMPAC 2026 exercises.
A Splash Industries statement noted: “One of our Typhoons performed an autonomous beach landing inside the USS Essex’s well deck while the ship was on the move, off the coast of Hawaii.
“This success signals a paradigm shift in contested logistics — the United States no longer has to put operators at risk or deploy expensive assets when critical supplies are needed in remote locations .
“Our Typhoon drone-boats can execute these missions with minimal operator input, and at a fraction of the cost of helicopter transfers.”
Exercise Rim of the Pacific 2026 (RIMPAC 2026) is the 30th iteration of international maritime exercise, which began in 1971 and is now hosted every two years.
It’s based in and around the Hawaiian islands and runs from June 24 to July 31; this year it features 30 nations, more than 30 surface ships, five submarines, 15 national land forces, more than 206 aircraft and 30,000 personnel.
- You can read more details on CAMRE’s social media post and more about RIMPAC 2026 on DVIDS