Navy lays out plans for rapid acquisition of unmanned surface ships and submarines to augment manned fleet
WASHINGTON – U.S. Navy leaders say they want to develop three types of large unmanned marine vessels: large unmanned surface vehicles (LUSVs); medium unmanned surface vehicles (MUSVs); and Extra-Large Unmanned Undersea Vehicles (XLUUVs). USNI News reports. Continue reading original article
The Military & Aerospace Electronics take:
25 March 2021 -- The Navy requested $579.9 million in 2021 research and development funding for these large unmanned surface ships and submarines, as well as their enabling technologies. Congress approved $238.9 million this year for Navy unmanned marine vessels.
The Navy wants to acquire these large unmanned vessels to shift the Navy to a more distributed fleet architecture that would include fewer large surface combatants like cruisers and destroyers; more small surface combatants like frigates and littoral combat ships; and add significant numbers of large unmanned vessels.
The Navy envisions large unmanned surface ships that are 200 feet to 300 feet long and displace 1,000 to 2,000 tons, and to be low-cost, high-endurance, reconfigurable ships based on commercial ship designs, with ample capacity for carrying various modular payloads -- particularly anti-ship and land-attack missiles.
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John Keller, chief editor
Military & Aerospace Electronics
