Objectives  In order to increase safety, reduce maintenance support costs and implement an efficient maintenance support mode for unmanned surface vehicle (USV) navigation, this study conducts an analysis of the integrated vehicle health management (IVHM) system of USVs.

  Methods  According to the functional structure composition of a type of USV, several key pieces of equipment and hull structure are analyzed in terms of failure mode, effect and criticality. Based on the operation and maintenance requirements, the functional requirements, system framework and key technologies of the IVHM system are analyzed and designed, and its software architecture devised. An agent-based simulation model is then used to evaluate the mission success and resource requirements of the USV.

  Results  Taking equipment failure and functional parameters as the input, an agent-based IVHM model is established, providing a theoretical basis for the mission success evaluation and supporting resource requirement analysis of USVs.

  Conclusions  The results of this study can provide valuable references for the construction of IVHM systems.