Tag Archives: unmanned

Navy Exporting Middle East Unmanned Template to SOUTHCOM to Curb Illegal Fishing, Battle Drug War

Navy Exporting Middle East Unmanned Template to SOUTHCOM to Curb Illegal Fishing, Battle Drug War

Two Saildrone Explorer unmanned surface vessels and the guided-missile destroyer USS Delbert D. Black (DDG 119) operate in the Arabian Gulf, Jan. 8. US Navy Photo

The U.S. Navy will expand its unmanned systems experimentation testbed to U.S. 4th Fleet to counter both drug trafficking and China’s illegal fishing, service officials announced Tuesday. Read More

Milley: China Challenge Placing Pressure on International Behavior

Milley: China Challenge Placing Pressure on International Behavior

Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Army Gen. Mark A. Milley testifies before the House Appropriations Committee-Defense on the Fiscal 2022 Department of Defense Budget in the Pentagon Press Briefing Room, Washington, D.C., May 27, 2021. Defense Department Photo

NATIONAL HARBOR, Md. – The chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff said “China is coming at us rapidly” – economically, diplomatically and militarily, and that challenge is putting existing international behavior “under tremendous stress.” Read More

Navy Focused on Strengthening Networks to Support Unmanned Operations

Navy Focused on Strengthening Networks to Support Unmanned Operations

Air Test and Evaluation Squadron 1 (VX-1) Sailors Aviation Machinist’s Mate Second Class Salvatore Green, left, and Aviation Electronics Technician Third Class Jake Price prepare the MC-8C Fire Scout to launch from the Independence variant littoral combat ship USS Coronado (LCS-4) on June 21, 2018. VX-1 Sailors embarked Coronado to conduct the first comprehensive Initial Operational Test and Evaluation (IOT&E) for the MQ-8C Fire Scout, the Navy’s newest unmanned helicopter. US Navy photo.

As the Navy secretariat and the chief of naval operations’ staff continue to map out how unmanned platforms would contribute to distributed maritime operations, the value of a good network – including one that can be accessed by the joint force and allies – is becoming more and more apparent. Read More

Retired Brig. Gen. Frank Kelley Named First-Ever Deputy Assistant Secretary of the Navy for Unmanned Systems

Retired Brig. Gen. Frank Kelley Named First-Ever Deputy Assistant Secretary of the Navy for Unmanned Systems

Then Brig. Gen. Frank Kelley, commander of Marine Corps Systems Command on Feb. 14, 2014. Kelley was named on Tuesday as the first deputy assistant secretary of the navy for unmanned systems. US Marine Corps Photo

Then Brig. Gen. Frank Kelley, commander of Marine Corps Systems Command on Feb. 14, 2014. Kelley was named on Tuesday as the first deputy assistant secretary of the navy for unmanned systems. US Marine Corps Photo

ARLINGTON, VA. — Retired Marine Corps Brig. Gen. Frank Kelley, who commanded Marine Corps Systems Command from 2010 to 2014, will serve as the first-ever deputy assistant secretary of the Navy for unmanned systems. Read More

Navy Names First Director of Unmanned Weapon Systems

Navy Names First Director of Unmanned Weapon Systems

Rear Adm. Robert Girrier, deputy commander of U.S. Pacific Fleet, addresses chief selects during a chief pinning ceremony at Hickam Officer's Club Lanai at Joint Base Pearl Harbor-Hickam on Sept. 16, 2015. US Navy Photo

Rear Adm. Robert Girrier, deputy commander of U.S. Pacific Fleet, addresses chief selects during a chief pinning ceremony at Hickam Officer’s Club Lanai at Joint Base Pearl Harbor-Hickam on Sept. 16, 2014. US Navy Photo

This post was updated with additional comments from the Office of the Chief of Naval Operations provided to USNI News on Monday.

The Navy has named its first director of unmanned weapon systems to guide the development of the Navy’s future unmanned efforts in the air and on and under the sea, the Pentagon announced on Friday afternoon. Read More

Mabus: F-35 Will Be ‘Last Manned Strike Fighter’ the Navy, Marines ‘Will Ever Buy or Fly’

Mabus: F-35 Will Be ‘Last Manned Strike Fighter’ the Navy, Marines ‘Will Ever Buy or Fly’

An F-35C Lightning II carrier variant joint strike fighter conducts a touch and go landing aboard the aircraft carrier USS Nimitz (CVN-68). US Navy Photo

An F-35C Lightning II carrier variant joint strike fighter conducts a touch and go landing aboard the aircraft carrier USS Nimitz (CVN-68). US Navy Photo

This post has been updated to include a comment from Rep. Randy Forbes (R-Va.).

NATIONAL HARBOR, Md. Secretary of the Navy Ray Mabus said the Lockheed Martin F-35 Joint Strike Fighter (JSF) will be “almost certainly will be, the last manned strike fighter aircraft the Department of the Navy will ever buy or fly,” signaling key assumptions in the Navy’s aviation future as the service prepares to develop follow-ons to the Boeing F/A-18E/F Super Hornet. Read More

A New Kind of Carrier Air Wing

A New Kind of Carrier Air Wing

Proceedings, September 2012
What types of aircraft will be deployed on tomorrow’s flattops?

What should the carrier air wing (CVW) of the future look like? This rather abstruse topic has taken on new significance of late as a consequence of the article in the July issue of Proceedingsby Chief of Naval Operations Admiral Jonathan Greenert. The title of the article, “Payloads over Platforms: Charting a New Course,” the discussion in it of the diminishing value of stealth, and the positive mentions of both the F/A-18 Hornet and unmanned systems such as the Scan Eagle and Fire Scout led some observers to accuse the CNO of somehow being secretly opposed to the carrier variant of the F-35 Joint Strike Fighter. Under intense criticism, Admiral Greenert and his staff appear to be employing the “Humpty Dumpty” defense (“When I use a word, it means just what I choose it to mean—neither more nor less.”), asserting that the article did not refer in any way to the F-35 but instead to stealth in the future. 1

The F-35 non-controversy aside, Admiral Greenert made a profound statement that could have dramatic implications for the character of U.S. air power in general and the future CVW in particular. The CNO declared that “we need to move from ‘luxury-car’ platforms—with their built-in capabilities—toward dependable ‘trucks’ that can handle a changing payload selection.” Why? Well, by definition “luxury car” platforms are expensive both to buy and maintain. In addition, they tend to look good and have great performance but can be of limited utility. A dependable “truck” has a wider range of uses, particularly if one doesn’t mind riding in the back. A payload-centric approach also allows for more rapid technological refresh at lower cost as well as the ability to tailor forces for the conflict du jour.

One conclusion to be drawn from the CNO’s assertion is that the value of the performance characteristics associated with so-called luxury-car platforms is declining. Those include stealth, speed, maneuverability, perhaps even survivability. There are several reasons for the Navy’s tastes in tactical aircraft to be changing. Obviously, two related ones are declining defense budgets and the high cost of advanced manned platforms. Another is concern regarding the anti-access/area-denial (A2/AD) threat.

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