Blue Water Autonomy outlines Liberty-class USV autonomy and progress
Blue Water Autonomy's Liberty-class USV. (Blue Water Autonomy)
The first hull of Blue Water Autonomy's Liberty-class unmanned surface vehicle (USV) is under construction at Conrad Shipyard in Louisiana, and is expected for completion in the boreal summer of 2027, Austin Gray, co-founder and CSO of Blue Water Autonomy told Janes at the Euronaval 2026 exhibition, held in Paris from 3-6 November.
Named for the Second World War Liberty ships, Gray said the company aims to build “a ship that's mass producible while also being very reliable from an autonomous perspective”, adding that “normally, these two traits, mass producible and reliable, come at tension with each other.”
In February 2026, Damen and Blue Water Autonomy announced a licence agreement for the former's Stan Patrol 6009 design, on which the Liberty class is based. The Liberty class will have a steel hull, a length of 67 m, a 9 m beam, a displacement of 810 tonnes, a top speed of 27 kt, and a range of 8,000 n miles at 12 kt. At lower speeds its range will be around 10,000 n miles, according to Blue Water Autonomy.
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