Orca XLUUV

Middle East Will Be Next Test Bed for Drone Ships, Aircraft as Navy Expands Unmanned Effort

USVs Ranger and Nomad unmanned vessels underway in the Pacific Ocean near the Channel Islands on July 3, 2021. US Navy Photo

Full of merchant traffic and security threats, the densely packed waterways of the Red Sea, Arabian Sea and the Persian Gulf will be a testing ground for the Navy’s push to make unmanned systems a practical part of the fleet, service leaders said on Wednesday.

U.S. 5th Fleet’s Task Force 59 will stand up on Thursday and be the second testing outfit for the Navy’s unmanned...

https://news.usni.org/2021/09/08/middle-east-will-be-next-test-bed-for-drone-ships-aircraft-as-navy-expands-unmanned-effort

Navy: Large USV Will Require Small Crews for the Next Several Years

Ghost Fleet Ship Nomad arriving at Point Loma, Calif., on May 29, 2021. Image via Twitter

NATIONAL HARBOR, Md. — The emerging fleet of U.S. military Large Unmanned Surface Vessels (LUSV) are set to navigate the open seas, avoid other vessels and carry out complex directives from a land-based command center over a secure commutations network. What they can’t do yet is pump their own gas.

For the foreseeable future, the LUSVs will require a small crew detachment aboard to carry out tasks not...

https://news.usni.org/2021/08/03/navy-large-usv-will-require-small-crews-for-the-next-several-years

Status Report: Navy Unmanned Aerial, Subsurface Platforms

The Navy wants to emphasize the development of enablers for unmanned systems – the common interfaces and control stations, the networks, the secure data formats, the autonomy behaviors – as it pursues a hybrid manned/unmanned fleet for the future.

However, the platforms still matter – and most of the ones the Navy wants to leverage in the coming years are still in development.

Several platforms were discussed during a recent House Armed Services seapower and projection forces subcommittee...

Report on Navy Large Unmanned Surface and Undersea Vehicles

The following is the Dec. 23, 2020 Congressional Research Service Report, Navy Large Unmanned Surface and Undersea Vehicles: Background and Issues for Congress.

From the report

The Navy in FY2021 and beyond wants to develop and procure three types of large unmanned vehicles (UVs). These large UVs are called Large Unmanned Surface Vehicles (LUSVs), Medium Unmanned Surface Vehicles (MUSVs), and Extra-Large Unmanned Undersea Vehicles (XLUUVs). The Navy is requesting $579.9 million in FY2021 research...

https://news.usni.org/2020/12/25/report-on-navy-large-unmanned-surface-and-undersea-vehicles

Report: Unmanned Systems Could Track and Fight Submarines At Less Cost Than Manned Ships, Planes

With the Pentagon pitching a future naval force design that calls for as many as 240 unmanned and optionally manned ships on the surface and under the sea, a natural question is: what will they all do?

The Navy has pitched a range of missions for its unmanned surface and undersea vessels, ranging from gathering intelligence to laying mines to launching missiles – the latter of which Congress strongly opposes at this point in the USV’s development – but few concrete concepts of operations have...

https://news.usni.org/2020/10/19/report-unmanned-systems-could-track-and-fight-submarines-at-less-cost-than-manned-ships-planes

Navy Pushing to Maintain 2023 USV Program of Record Timeline

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.

Several Navy program officials and resource sponsors today outlined how they’ll spend the next couple years giving Congress enough confidence in unmanned...

https://news.usni.org/2020/09/08/navy-pushing-to-maintain-2023-usv-program-of-record-timeline

HII Growing Unmanned Investments as Navy Plans to Expand Capability

Artist’s conception of the Boeing and HII Orca XLUUV. Boeing Image

As the Navy continues its pursuit of unmanned vehicles, Huntington Ingalls Industries hopes to harness its experience building the service’s largest platforms to expand naval capability in the unmanned realm.

After purchasing a company that builds unmanned undersea vehicles earlier this year, HII last month announced an investment in Sea Machines Robotics, a company located in Boston, Mass. that focuses on software for the...

https://news.usni.org/2020/08/04/hii-growing-unmanned-investments-as-navy-plans-to-expand-capability

In Role Reversal, Boeing’s Defense Programs Prop Up Commercial Business

P-8 Poseidon in Seattle Factory. Boeing photo.

In the near term, Boeing’s leadership is counting on its defense programs to provide bottom-line stability as its commercial aircraft business buckles under pressure from COVID-19-related travel restrictions.

Commercial air traffic has all but ground to halt – down 95 percent in the U.S. from where it was a year ago – Dave Calhoun, the chief executive of Boeing, said during a Wednesday conference call with analysts to discuss the company’s...

https://news.usni.org/2020/04/30/in-role-reversal-boeings-defense-programs-prop-up-commercial-business

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