A Saildrone Explorer unmanned surface vessel (USV) operates with guided-missile destroyer USS Delbert D. Black (DDG-119) in the Arabian Gulf during exercise Phantom Scope, Oct. 7, 2022. US Navy Photo
The United States and its allies want a force of 100 unmanned surface vessels patrolling waters from the Red Sea into the Persian Gulf by next summer, the commander of U.S. 5th Fleet said on Tuesday. Read More
A Saildrone Explorer unmanned surface vessel (USV) sails in the Gulf of Aqaba off of Jordan’s coast on Dec. 12, 2022. US Army Photo
The story has been updated to include a statement from the U.S. Navy.
The Islamic Republic of Iran Navy briefly captured two U.S. unmanned surface vehicles in the Red Sea on Thursday, a U.S. Navy official confirmed to USNI News. Read More
Saildrone Photo
NATIONAL HARBOR, Md. — The Navy could use one of the world’s oldest technologies to defeat one of the newest by launching autonomous sailing drones to find and track enemy submarines. Read More
Sailors man the rails aboard the guided-missile destroyer USS Zumwalt (DDG-1000) in 2019 as the ship pulls into Joint Base Pearl Harbor-Hickam. US Navy Photo
The Navy is taking steps to integrate its Zumwalt-class destroyers and its unmanned surface vessels into operational plans and will likely include both in a major Integrated Battle Problem exercise this spring. Read More
A Saildrone operated by NOAA. Saildrone Image
The Coast Guard has begun at-sea testing of unmanned surface vehicles off the south shore of Oahu to see if the autonomous craft can help provide persistent maritime domain awareness in remote areas of the large ocean, the service announced. Read More
Vice Adm. Roy Kitchener, Commander, Naval Surface Force U.S. Pacific Fleet, meets with Sailors during a tour of the Amphibious assault ship USS Boxer (LHD 4) on Aug. 13, 2020. Kitchener also evaluated Boxer’s current state of readiness during his visit. US Navy photo.
The new head of the Navy’s surface fleet said his predecessor made major improvements in training and readiness, and he wants to use them as a foundation to improve the tactical side: more advanced warfighting training, more self-sufficient ship crews, and more technology being pushed out to ships and unmanned vessels. Read More
NOAA and partners from its Cooperative Institute for Marine and Atmospheric Studies at University of Miami and CARICOOS launch 11 ocean gliders that will collect data this hurricane season to improve prediction. NOAA Photo
National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration and the Navy are formalizing a partnership on unmanned maritime systems and the policies that will govern their operations, as each organization stakes out their own unmanned futures. Read More
An artist’s concept illustrating a Sea Machine commerical autonomous navigation system. Sea Machine Image
Huntington Ingalls Industries has invested in a second unmanned maritime systems company, announcing today that it completed an equity investment in Sea Machines Robotics, Inc. Read More
Sailors assigned to the air department aboard the aircraft carrier USS Gerald R. Ford (CVN-78) prepare to launch an F/A-18F Super Hornet attached to the Gladiators of Strike Fighter Squadron (VFA) 106 during flight operations, March 29, 2020. US Navy Photo
The Navy’s secretary nominee has embraced a vision of the future naval fleet that is larger and includes new hull types in support of distributed maritime operations – but he also fully embraces the Ford-class aircraft carrier, in contrast to one of the main efforts being considered by former Acting Secretary Thomas Modly to attempt to trim costs to evolve the fleet amid flat budgets. Read More
Gen. David H. Berger addresses an audience of senior enlisted Marines and Sailors about Force Design at the Sergeant Major of the Marine Corps Symposium in Quantico, Va. on Oct. 17, 2019. US Marine Corps Photo
WASHINGTON, D.C. – Commandant of the Marine Corps Gen. David Berger previewed a shift in focus for the Marine Corps soon after taking over the job this summer, with his Commandant’s Planning Guidance. Now, he’s previewing what that shift will mean for the gear the Marines use and how they spend their money, writing in an essay in War on the Rocks that the service is over-invested in gear to support traditional land wars and under-invested in naval expeditionary capabilities. Read More
