A provision in the draft 2026 National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) may prevent the U.S. Navy from contracting crew-optional designs for its Modular Surface Attack Craft (MASC) until it proves future vessels are purpose-built unmanned platforms with no crew support systems. This would force a dramatic shift in naval procurement moving away from hybrid designs toward fully autonomous warships optimized for surveillance, strike and modular payloads without the weight, cost, or vulnerabilities