The Navy may have found something useful to do with its Zumwalt Class destroyers. Controlling unmanned ships and aircraft in battle.
Zumwalt Destroyer Will Control Unmanned Ships, Aircraft in Upcoming Fleet Battle Problem
Read the rest of the article at the link.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.
U.S. Pacific Fleet will host its most complex exercise to date involving unmanned systems, with next month’s Fleet Battle Problem exercise including unmanned aircraft on the water’s surface and in the air and USS Michael Monsoor (DDG-1001) commanding and controlling the missions.
As the Navy tries to convey the seriousness with which it plans to pursue a fleet overhaul to incorporate manned-unmanned teaming into almost everything the service does, this upcoming exercise will show off how far the sea service has come in technology and concept of operations (CONOPS) development and what work still remains.
“The Unmanned Campaign Framework states it is imperative that we understand what our future force will need to operate both in day-to-day competition as well as high-end combat. The event being held in the 3rd Fleet operational area, under the guidance of U.S. Pacific Fleet, is exploring elements of that future force that will have the greatest impact on increasing the fleet’s lethality,” U.S. Navy spokesman Lt. Tim Pietrack told USNI News today.
“Through operational scenarios, what we learn from this event will provide pertinent and timely input to the Naval Research Enterprise and the acquisition community, to better inform unmanned system development moving forward.”
USNI News previously reported that a Zumwalt destroyer would be integrated into the complex exercise this spring, alongside unmanned surface vessels – both the Zumwalt DDGs and medium and large unmanned surface vessels fall under the same developmental squadron for concept of operations development and fleet introduction – but the Navy today revealed more details about this event.