Littoral combat ship Little Rock (LCS 9) is underway during a high-speed run in Lake Michigan during acceptance trials. Lockheed Martin Photo
The Navy will put a laser weapon on a Littoral Combat Ship for the first time this year, amid efforts to boost the LCS’s lethality and to develop and field a family of laser systems. Read More
USS Zumwalt (DDG-1000) and the Sea Hunter autonomous surface craft.
SAN DIEGO, Calif. – The Navy’s new surface development squadron will soon receive its first unmanned vehicle to begin experimenting with, as the service looks to incorporate new types of manned and unmanned platforms into how it fights at sea. 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
The Office of Naval Research highlights the results of some laser weapon tests, showing the damage that its in-development Solid State Laser- Technology Maturation system did to various unmanned systems, metals and more. USNI News photo.
The Navy will field versions of both its highest-power laser weapon and its low-end non-lethal laser dazzler later this year, gaining operational experience with directed energy weapons that will continue to focus engineers’ efforts building out the Navy Laser Family of Systems (NLFoS). Read More
U.S. Marines with 1st Light Armored Reconnaissance Battalion, 1st Marine Division prepare to move after conducting a “hot check” of their Light Armored Vehicles (LAV) at Marine Corps Base Camp Pendleton, California, March 29, 2019. “Hot checks” are conducted during convoys to ensure that all the vital parts of an LAV are functioning properly. US Marine Corps photo.
The Marine Corps will kick off the analysis of alternatives on its Armored Reconnaissance Vehicle (ARV) this summer, after some early troubles finding the right strategy to replace the 1980s-built Light Armored Vehicle (LAV) with a fifth-generation combat capability. 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
Medium Displacement Unmanned Surface Vehicle (MDUSV) prototype Sea Hunter pulls into Joint Base Pearl Harbor-Hickam, Hawaii on Oct. 31, 2018. US Navy Photo
THE PENTAGON – The Navy released a draft request for proposals for its Medium Unmanned Surface Vehicle as the Office of Naval Research continues to prove out the autonomous control system on a first test ship. Read More
Virginia-class fast-attack submarine USS Missouri (SSN-780) on May 31, 2018. US Navy Photo
ARLINGTON, Va. — The U.S. Navy submarine force is creating an aggressor squadron as one initiative to ensure all subs are combat-ready as the service trains to take on China and Russia, the commander of Naval Submarine Forces said on Wednesday. Read More
High-speed camera image of the Office of Naval Research Electromagnetic Railgun located at the Naval Surface Warfare Center Dahlgren Division, firing a world-record setting 33 mega-joule shot in 2010. ONR Photo
THE PENTAGON – The Navy’s next large surface combatant will have all the space, weight and power margins the sea service could need now and into the future to accommodate new weapons in development – but the director of surface warfare said the Navy would not accelerate weapons development to get them ready in time to outfit the new ships. Read More
Navy BAMS-D UAV forward deployed to the Middle East, Marine Multi-Utility Tactical Transports (MUTTs), Navy SeaHunter Unmanned Surface Vehicle
NATIONAL HARBOR, Md. — The Navy hopes to eventually make unmanned systems just one tool among many for commanders to pick from. However, to get to that point the service will have to get unmanned systems into the hands of warfighters to work out the kinks, leaders said. Read More
