GARC

GARC is a compact American uncrewed surface vessel developed by BlackSea Technologies for modular reconnaissance, sensing and strike missions.

Overview

The Global Autonomous Reconnaissance Craft (GARC) is a 4.9 m small uncrewed surface vessel developed by Baltimore-based BlackSea Technologies. Although its name emphasizes reconnaissance, the craft is designed around interchangeable payloads rather than one fixed mission. BlackSea's published figures describe capacity for up to approximately 454 kg of payload and a range of approximately 1,296 km at 41 km/h, a combination intended to support distributed sensing, communications and potentially offensive tasks.

GARC entered public US Navy exercise use during the 2026 Rim of the Pacific exercise off Hawaii. The event demonstrated that the same modular craft could be employed as a one-way attack vessel against a large ship target, but it did not establish whether strike is GARC's primary intended role. Its peacetime configuration, autonomy architecture, datalink, warhead options, procurement quantity and unit cost remain outside the public record.

The significance of the RIMPAC demonstration lies chiefly in institutional adoption. Ukraine had already demonstrated the combat value of explosive uncrewed boats against Russian naval targets; the US event instead placed a comparable concept within a dedicated Navy USV division and a scheduled multinational exercise. GARC consequently represents both a platform and a test of how the US Navy will acquire, organize and employ small expendable surface craft.

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