"The Special Mission Vessel is envisioned as a versatile ‘mothership’ designed to significantly enhance maritime domain awareness and response capabilities," a Navy spokesperson said, framing a new procurement that aims to expand U.S. Southern Command's reach across the Eastern Pacific and Southern Caribbean.
U.S. Navy request for information and next steps
The Navy published a request for information (RFI) about the vessel “on the government’s contracting website” on Monday, the service told us. The RFI solicits input for “both the design and new construction of a vessel, as well as the acquisition and necessary modification of an existing vessel,” and urges respondents to “seek to use existing, non-developmental platforms to the maximum extent possible.”
The Navy said the proposed Special Mission Vessel is included in the President’s Fiscal Year 2027 budget and that it “intends to issue a formal Request for Proposal upon receipt of FY27 appropriations.” The RFI is described by the Navy spokesperson as a standard market-research step in the federal acquisition process, inviting industry to “propose innovative concepts that meet the foundational requirements for a vessel designed for this critical mission set.”
Design and operational requirements spelled out in the RFI
The RFI sets concrete performance and capability expectations. The vessel should be a steel monohull or catamaran between 300 and 400 feet long, capable of a minimum sustained speed of 10 knots and a range of 9,600 nautical miles. It must be able to “conduct primary operations and survive in a Beaufort Wind Scale 6 or greater” and perform boat launch and recovery operations in Beaufort Wind Scale 4. The RFI cites the Beaufort system definitions: Scale 6 corresponds to winds of 22–27 knots and maximum wave heights of about 12 feet; Scale 4 corresponds to winds of 11–16 knots and maximum wave heights of about five feet.
The vessel should remain at sea for “at least 30 days without underway replenishment or resupply for maximum number of personnel.” Flight-deck requirements include the ability to launch and recover Sikorsky SH-60, MH-60 Seahawk, MH-60T Jayhawk and MH-65 Dolphin helicopters, and the ship must be capable of “launching and recovering vertical take-off Class 2/3 UAS platforms.” The RFI requires a minimum of “20×20 ft dedicated clear deck space for UAS recovery and storage” and “sockets for minimum of two [20-foot-equivalent] containers for UAS control and maintenance.”
Small-boat operations and logistics are central to the design. The RFI calls for a “non-deck-crane-based small boat launch and recovery system” to support boats between 24 ft and 44 ft and weighing up to 35,000 lbs, plus a “small crane (fixed/portable or ‘yellow gear’) for emergency recovery of UAS/USV or other watercraft.” Fueling capability must allow the vessel to receive and store various grades of fuel for its own propulsion and auxiliaries and to deliver fuel to small boats and craft, and the ship “must be designated as a refueler vessel and meet U.S. Coast Guard requirements.”
Berthing specs include accommodations for up to 69 people, 20–25 civilian mariner staterooms, open berthing for 29–44 embarked crew members, and secure detainee space with suitable AC/ventilation for 10–12 people. The vessel need not be a large surface-combatant but should support Anti-Terrorism/Force Protection .50 caliber mounts, a 160-square-foot armory, and a 100-square-foot magazine.
Kellie Chouest: the current platform and contract timeline
Many of the RFI requirements align with the MV Kellie Chouest, the 310-foot ship currently performing a similar Special Mission role for U.S. Southern Command under Military Sealift Command (MSC) charter. The Kellie Chouest can travel at 13 knots, berths 53 personnel, has a helicopter pad, several 20-foot containers, and cranes and winches used to launch and recover smaller ships—features cited in the RFI.
MSC told the reporter the Kellie Chouest's latest four-year contract is set to expire on March 31, 2028. The Navy has left open multiple acquisition paths: build a purpose-designed vessel, convert an existing ship, renew the Kellie Chouest charter, or add a new ship to operate alongside her.
Operational context: SOUTHCOM missions, strikes, and controversy
The Navy frames the Special Mission Vessel as supporting “SOUTHCOM’s enduring mission to collaborate with partner nations on maritime security operations in the Eastern Pacific and Southern Caribbean.” The need for such a vessel is tied to U.S. forces’ ongoing operations against drug traffickers in the region, including “ongoing strikes on boats claimed to be operated by smugglers.”
Those strikes have been contentious. The source reports that they have generated “a great deal of controversy, with claims they violate the rules of armed conflict and have been carried out without Congressional or judicial approval,” and that the White House and the Pentagon have pushed back on those claims. A U.S. Southern Command post described an incident on June 21 in which, “at the direction of #SOUTHCOM commander Gen. Francis L. Donovan, Joint Task Force Southern Spear conducted a lethal kinetic strike on a vessel operated by Designated Terrorist Organizations.”
SOUTHCOM’s public posts describe the Kellie Chouest as a “forward operating base for partner nations” and credited the ship with direct assistance to Colombian forces in a seizure of 3.2 tons of marijuana, and with supporting partner operations alongside Panama, Costa Rica, Colombia, El Salvador, Guatemala, and Mexico.
What this means for industry, SOUTHCOM, and partner nations
- Industry and shipbuilders: The RFI opens opportunities for both new construction and conversion work, with an explicit preference to “use existing, non-developmental platforms to the maximum extent possible.” Companies with experience converting commercial ships into special-mission platforms or offering modular UAS and small-boat handling systems are directly invited to respond.
- SOUTHCOM and operational planners: If fielded, the vessel would institutionalize a forward-operating capability the command already uses, including fuel resupply, UAS operations, and small-boat launch/recovery—functions SOUTHCOM has credited with supporting multinational counternarcotics missions.
- Partner nations in the Eastern Pacific and Southern Caribbean: The ship is described as a platform that “provides our partner nations a platform” for intelligence, fuel, and life support during operations—services SOUTHCOM has said were already provided by the Kellie Chouest in recent missions.
The Navy’s RFI sketches a purpose-built or converted ship intended to sustain extended maritime security operations in a region where kinetic action and legal debate have both increased. With the Kellie Chouest’s contract ending in March 2028 and the Special Mission Vessel included in the FY27 budget, industry responses to the RFI and FY27 appropriations will shape whether the Navy replaces, renews, or augments today’s mothership capability.
