From counter-sub to surface warfare: Navy builds two new large unmanned ships for surface attack

12 Feb 2019 -- The new vessels, now in conceptual development, are to operate manned and unmanned while networked to a smaller fleet of multi-mission unmanned surface vessels (USVs), says Capt. Pete Small, program manager of unmanned maritime systems at Naval Sea Systems Command in Washington.

“We are integrating Large USVs (LUSV) and Medium USVs (MUSV) into the architecture, as a large part of a future surface combatant force. We are developing a single integrated combat system shared across the entire combat portfolio,” Small says.

While the Navy is exploring arming maritime drones with weapons, Small says the initial focus for the new larger surface drones will be autonomy, endurance, precision navigation, and command and control.

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John Keller, chief editor
Military & Aerospace Electronics

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