A Raytheon SM-6 launched from an Aegis guided-missile destroyer. US Navy Photo
Using a blend of information from unmanned and manned ships and aircraft, a guided-missile destroyer launched an anti-surface missile from over-the-horizon to hit a target more than 250 miles away without using active sensors as part of the Unmanned Integrated Battle Problem 21, Navy officials said on Monday. Read More
Medium displacement unmanned surface vessels Seahawk, front, and Sea Hunter launch for the U.S. Pacific Fleet’s Unmanned Systems Integrated Battle Problem 21 (UxS IBP 21), April 20, 2021. US Navy Photo
SAN DIEGO, Calif. – Off the southern California coast this week, the Navy has amassed a small fleet to help figure how its operational forces can use aerial drones, autonomous surface and subsurface vehicles in an integrated fight at sea and in the air to support the manned fleet. Read More
U.S. Navy leaders observe a demonstration in the combat information center aboard Zumwalt-class guided-missile destroyer USS Michael Monsoor (DDG 1001) on Naval Base San Diego, April 16 during the Unmanned Integrated Battle Problem 21 (UxS IBP 21) Distinguished Visitor Day. U.S. Pacific Fleet’s UxS IBP 21, April 19-26, integrates manned and unmanned capabilities into the most challenging operational scenarios to generate warfighting advantages. US Navy photo.
The Navy today kicked off its first-ever exercise using manned and unmanned systems together in the air and the sea, in a first test of what a future hybrid fleet of crewed and uncrewed vessels could look like. Read More
USS Michael Monsoor (DDG-1001) cruises under the Coronado Bridge in San Diego Bay, Dec. 7, 2018. US Navy Photo
The Navy will get a first glimpse of what future operations could look like, when a Zumwalt-class destroyer manages long-range surveillance and fires by manned and unmanned platforms in an upcoming exercise in the Pacific. Read More
Rendering of USS Constellation (FFG-62). Fincantieri Image
The Navy already has models of the Constellation-class frigate and the upcoming DDG(X) destroyer in the water at Naval Surface Warfare Center Carderock in Maryland and is using a new set of engineering best practices to guide the development of both programs, several Navy officials explained last week. 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
USS Sterett (DDG-104) steams through the night in the Gulf of Oman on Sept. 17, 2020. US Navy Photo
The head of the Navy warned the surface force there is little time to waste in designing and fielding key technologies it will need for a lethal and distributed future fleet. Read More
A common hypersonic glide body (C-HGB) launches from Pacific Missile Range Facility, Kauai, Hawaii, at approximately 10:30 p.m. local time on March 19, 2020. US Navy Photo
In order to accommodate the equivalent of an intermediate-range ballistic missile aboard the Navy’s current crop of destroyers, the service would need to undertake complex modifications to both the Zumwalt and Arleigh Burke classes of ships to install a long-range hypersonic strike weapon on DDGs, as the national security advisor called for this week.
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USS Stockdale (DDG-106) transits the Gulf of Oman on Jan. 5, 2019. US Navy Photo
The Navy’s latest effort to define its next large surface combatant is underway, with the director of surface warfare (OPNAV N96) saying the top-level requirements for the ship class are due to the chief of naval operations by the end of the year. Read More
USS Wayne E. Meyer (DDG-108) transits through the East China Sea on Nov. 15, 2019. US Navy Photo
The Program Executive Officer for Ships wants any future ship class to maximize the use of mature technologies and to establish land-based testing sites for any new and unproven systems, to buy down risk and allow for “credible” fielding timelines. Read More
