More from the article ...

... The Navy confirmed to Breaking Defense on May 22 that seven MUSV marketplace submissions had been selected to advance to the prototype evaluation phase. USNI News first reported that seven designs were chosen.

The Navy revealed the marketplace as part of a new acquisition model designed to replace MASC, and provide a blueprint for obtaining other autonomous systems, Rebecca Gassler, the portfolio acquisition executive (PAE) for robotic and autonomous systems (RAS), told reporters in March.

Gassler didn't disclose then the mission set these vessels will fulfill, but said there's several operational needs they could complete, supporting tailored force packages detailed in Chief of Naval Operations Adm. Daryl Caudle's Fighting Instructions guidance, released in February.

Designs submitted were required to carry at least two 40-ft shipping containers, and travel 2,500 nautical miles at 25 knots in sea state 4 conditions while outfitted with a 25-metric-ton load on the payload deck, the solicitation document for the marketplace said ...

@#2

Possibly.

Companies scrambling for defense dollars, hoping their technology will work.

OK, maybe "Eric with a joystick" is not that far off ...