MCM UUV in the mission bay of an Independence-class Littoral Combat Ship. US Navy Photo
After several years of delays, the Navy’s mine countermeasures mission package for the Littoral Combat Ship has finally reached its initial operating capability. Read More
Sea Hunter, an entirely new class of unmanned sea surface vehicle developed in partnership between the Office of Naval Research (ONR) and the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA), completed an autonomous sail from San Diego to Hawaii. US Navy photo
As the Navy experiments with its unmanned surface vehicle prototypes, the service plans to employ the Sea Hunter Medium USV in fleet exercises in the next fiscal year, the program executive officer for unmanned and small combatants said today. Read More
A Ghost Fleet Overlord test vessel takes part in a capstone demonstration during the conclusion of Phase I of the program in September. Two existing commercial fast supply vessels were converted into unmanned surface vessels (USVs) for Overlord testing, which will play a vital role in informing the Navy’s new classes of USVs. US Navy photo.
Several Navy program officials and resource sponsors today outlined how they’ll spend the next couple years giving Congress enough confidence in unmanned surface and underwater vehicles to allow the service to move from prototyping into programs of record. Read More
Capt. David Gray, the military detachment officer in charge of the Military Sealift Command expeditionary sea base USNS Hershel ‘Woody’ Williams (ESB 4), gives guidance and direction to Sailors while leading a training evolution aboard one of the ship’s ridged-hull inflatable boats while the ship was at anchor in the Chesapeake Bay, Sept. 15, 2019. Hershel ‘Woody’ Williams is conducting mine countermeasures equipment testing. US Navy photo.
It’s growing more likely that components of the mine countermeasures mission package designed for the Littoral Combat Ship small combatant will end up also fielded on the Navy’s massive Lewis B. Puller-class expeditionary sea bases, the director of expeditionary warfare (OPNAV N95) said this week. Read More
USS Detroit (LCS-7) receives regularly scheduled maintenance and upkeep during a scheduled dry-dock maintenance availability phase at BAE Systems shipyard in Jacksonville, Fla., March 29, 2019. US Navy Photo
This is the second of a two-part series on the current state of the Littoral Combat Ship program.
This post has been updated to note that the Mk 48 Mod II Gun Weapon Control System will upgrade the current 57mm gun on the LCS.
WASHINGTON NAVY YARD – With both variants of the Littoral Combat Ship in serial production at two yards and those ships now kicking off an enduring multi-ship overseas presence, the Navy is turning its focus to increasing the lethality and survivability of the hulls. Read More
A Naval Sea Systems Command-developed Iraqi 60-meter Offshore Support Vessel. US Navy briefing material indicate that early versions of the service’s large unmanned surface vessels could be based on OSV designs. US Navy Photo
The Navy has put a call out to industry to send in ideas for its planned fleet of corvette-sized unmanned surface vehicles, according to a draft request for proposal announced on Wednesday. Read More
Medium Displacement Unmanned Surface Vehicle (MDUSV) prototype Sea Hunter pulls into Joint Base Pearl Harbor-Hickam, Hawaii on Oct. 31, 2018. US Navy Photo
NATIONAL HARBOR, Md. – The Navy has tightly coupled early prototyping efforts and future acquisition efforts for medium and large unmanned surface vehicles, to speed up the time it will take to experiment with the vessels and get them fielded to fleet commanders, the program manager said last week. Read More
Sailors assigned to Explosive Ordnance Disposal Mobile Unit (EODMU) 2 man a combat rubber raiding craft while underway with the Royal Fleet Auxiliary landing ship dock Mounts Bay during a mine countermeasures (MCM) task group experiment. US Navy Photo
NAVAL STATION NORFOLK, ABOARD RFA MOUNTS BAY – The Navy’s mine countermeasures community brought all three legs of its triad together for a single experiment – aboard an allied ship – to see how well they could combine their gear and people to tackle a common threat. Read More
The future littoral combat ship USS Wichita (LCS 13) conducts acceptance trials, which are the last significant milestone before a ship is delivered to the Navy. US Navy photo.
ARLINGTON, Va. – The Littoral Combat Ship mission package program office considers itself to be out of the technology development business and fully into testing and production, the program manager said last week. Read More
The Sea Hunter, a Medium Displacement Unmanned Surface Vehicle (MDUSV). US Navy Photo
WASHINGTON, D.C. — The Navy’s Future Surface Combatant will likely include both an unmanned and an optionally unmanned surface vessel as part of a growing family of systems, as the Navy works through how manned/unmanned teaming can provide the biggest benefits at various phases of warfare. Read More
