In 2016, Leidos (NYSE: LDOS) did an amazing thing.
Asked by the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency -- DARPA, the Pentagon's "mad scientists" division -- to design and build a fully automated robotic warship capable of locating and tracking enemy submarines, Leidos got the thing designed, built, and in the water in just four months. The new warship was dubbed the unmanned surface vehicle (USV) Sea Hunter, and the 132-foot-long trimaran vessel quickly embarked on a years-long series of tests, including an entirely autonomous voyage from San Diego to Hawaii and back last year, and a stint attached to a U.S. aircraft carrier strike group (Surface Development Squadron 1, or SURFDEVRON-1) in January.
Image source: Department of Defense.