USVs Ranger and Nomad unmanned vessels underway in the Pacific Ocean near the Channel Islands on July 3, 2021. US Navy Photo
The pair of Ghost Fleet ships the Navy and the Pentagon’s Strategic Capabilities Office are using as testbeds to prove large autonomous vessels can operate effectively at sea are slowly moving toward completely unmanned operations. Read More
USVs Ranger and Nomad unmanned vessels underway in the Pacific Ocean near the Channel Islands on July 3, 2021. US Navy Photo
The next pair of ships slated for the Navy and the Pentagon’s test program for autonomous ships are under construction on the Gulf Coast and set to join the service next year, defense officials told reporters on Tuesday. Read More
Ghost Fleet Ship Nomad arriving at Point Loma, Calif., on May 29, 2021. IMage via Twitter
The Pentagon’s second autonomous test ship is in California after completing a 4,421 nautical-mile journey from the Gulf Coast to the West Coast after passing through the Panama Canal, according to a Monday statement provided to USNI News. Read More
Ghost Fleet vessel Nomad transits the Miraflores locks in the PAnama Canal on May 18, 2021. USNI News Graphic
An experimental unmanned surface vehicle has transited the Panama Canal on the way to its new home in California, USNI News has learned. 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.
One of the Pentagon’s two Overlord large unmanned surface vessels conducted a first-ever Panama Canal transit, sailing thousands of miles from the Gulf Coast to California in a major test of autonomous systems with few reliability issues along the way, the chief of naval operations told USNI News. 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
Medium displacement unmanned surface vehicle (MDUSV) prototype Sea Hunter is moored onboard Joint Base Pearl Harbor-Hickam, Hawaii. US Navy Photo
THE PENTAGON – The Navy has more questions than answers on how it will use unmanned warships in the future, but it knows now is the time to get unmanned surface vehicles into the water and start learning, the Navy’s top requirements officer told USNI News. Read More
DOD Strategic Capabilities Office Director Dr. William Roper (center) observes a test flight of the Joint Tactical Aerial Resupply Vehicle, or JTARV, also known as the hoverbike. The JTARV may one day make it possible for Soldiers on the battlefield to order resupply and then receive those supplies rapidly from an autonomous unmanned aerial vehicle. US Army photo.
The White House announced its intention to nominate current Strategic Capabilities Office Director William Roper to serve as the next Air Force acquisition chief. Read More
The “Gunslingers” of Strike Fighter Squadron (VFA) 105 conduct a flyover during their homecoming at Naval Air Station Oceana, Va. on April 17, 2014. US Navy Photo
The Senate Armed Services Committee passed its version of the Fiscal Year 2017 National Defense Authorization Act on Thursday, laying out a spending plan that falls just short of a bill the House Armed Services Committee passed last month. Read More
