“What we have been able to do with the Australian navy has begun to make believers” in robotic submarine technology, said Anduril Chief Strategy Officer Chris Brose.
By Valerie InsinnaDuring Breaking Defense’s recent visit to a UUV manufacturing plant, HII officials stressed their modular design, in line with the Navy’s unmanned vision of plug-and-play technologies.
By Justin KatzAn explosion at the underwater Nord Stream pipeline has geopolitical consequences, and highlights the value and vulnerability of the bottom of the ocean.
By Christina MackenzieThe Manta Ray is one of several unmanned vehicles moving through the military’s research and development enterprises.
By Justin KatzTracking and harassing submarines will likely be a key job for the new generation of networked, unmanned ships.
By Paul McLearyHead of the Unmanned and Small Combatants office, Rear Adm. Casey Moton, said the industry day was meant to, “stress the importance of the program to the fleet – they want it today, they need it today.”
By Paul McLearyANNAPOLIS: The Navy’s new plan to put mine-hunting gear on a wider range of warships could finally break mine warfare out of its ghetto — or it could keep mine-hunting the same redheaded stepchild but spread it across more decks. The Navy has experimented with integrating Mine Counter-Measures (MCM) onto ships that weren’t minesweepers before,…
By Sydney J. Freedberg Jr.ANNAPOLIS: Small, fast missile boats clear a path through coastal waters for Marine landing forces. Robot jet skis, surfboards, and mini-subs scout out landing sites ahead of the human force. High-speed landing craft carry troops, their gear, and vehicles to the beach. Those are some of the ideas the Marines are experimenting with as…
By Sydney J. Freedberg Jr.WASHINGTON: All hands, brace for disappointment. The president’s promised naval buildup won’t begin in the 2018 budget out next week — or maybe ever. Sure, before the election, candidate Donald Trump promised a 350-ship Navy. Sure, just this morning, House Speaker Paul Ryan repeated the 350 figure. Sure, this week the Chief of Naval Operations…
By Sydney J. Freedberg Jr.WASHINGTON: Light carriers. Robot PT boats. Unmanned subs. A congressionally chartered study, the Alternative Future Fleet Platform Architecture Study, “does not represent any official Navy position,” but offers a surprisingly bold vision for the future of the US Navy. The study, by a “Navy Project Team” of officers, civil servants, and contractors free to brainstorm without…
By Sydney J. Freedberg Jr.UPDATE: China agrees to return drone WASHINGTON: The same day the US Navy made its case for a much larger fleet of 355 ships, the Chinese navy seized an American underwater drone 50 nautical miles off the Philippines. Just two days earlier, the independent Asia Maritime Transparency Initiative reported China had fortified the artificial islands it…
By Sydney J. Freedberg Jr.https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yOl_JOesU54 The first Marines to hit the beach in future wars may well be robots. Flying, swimming, rolling and swarming, the unmanned advance guard will scout out enemy positions, neutralize mines and send out decoy transmissions to deceive the enemy. Then the humans will start to come ashore. First handfuls of SEALs and Marine Force…
By Sydney J. Freedberg Jr.The multinational Unmanned Warrior exercise off the coast of Scotland is doing “really groundbreaking” work on naval drones, said one participating US scientist. There’ve been “a number of world firsts” in networking unmanned vehicles of different types and from different nations into a single unit, Marcus Tepaske, science advisor for the Office of Naval Research,…
By Sydney J. Freedberg Jr.WASHINGTON: The balance of power underwater is shifting against the West, warns a new report from the Center for Strategic & International Studies. Both Russian and NATO capabilities cratered after the Cold War, but the Russian submarine fleet is clawing its way back — and we’re not ready to face it, CSIS says. The US,…
By Sydney J. Freedberg Jr.