While the U.S. Navy has been making significant investments in uncrewed boats in recent years, key questions have remained about how the service plans to employ and distribute the new capability.
But in testimony before a congressionally authorized panel earlier this month, the Navy’s No. 2 officer shed new light on the value that medium unmanned surface vessels, or MUSVs, could bring to the fleet, particularly as persistently forward-stationed assets and part of tailorable mission packages available to commanders.
Adm. James Kilby, the vice chief of naval operations, cited the recent deployment of an MUSV to the Pacific with the USS Theodore Roosevelt Carrier Strike Group — the first operational deployment for the platform — as an example of how the Navy is working to normalize the presence of unmanned assets in operations.
“I see a world where it’s part of your certification exercise,” Kilby told the National Commission on the Future of the Navy in an Oct. 8 hearing, referring to the proficiency tests Navy ships must complete to demonstrate that they’re qualified for various warfighting operations and mission areas. “You know, there’s elements that we introduce in that exercise where you’ve got to demonstrate that capability, because it’s probably not going to go over with you. You’re going to pick it up over there, and you’ve got to be certified to use it.”
The Navy is expected to receive its first formal delivery of 30 MUSVs by the end of fiscal 2027. Earlier this month, Navy Secretary Hung Cao confirmed the deployment of a drone boat with the Roosevelt Strike Group, calling it a “force multiplier.”
“Imagine having more guns out there,” he said, according to a Defense Scoop report.
The Navy now operates four MUSVs, originally built as test beds and later transferred to the service. It announced last month that it had selected three companies to build a total of 30 of the vessels. The news came about six months after the Navy pivoted on its MUSV program to accelerate drone boat development, citing a desire for the vessels to become an integral part of its new “Golden Fleet” concept.
Kilby noted that the Navy had also recently created a Robotic and Autonomous Systems Warfighting Development Center (RASWDC) at Joint Expeditionary Base Little Creek-Fort Story in Virginia Beach, which he said was based on Navy Fighter Weapons School, also known as Top Gun, in Fallon, Nevada.
“The idea, in the case of MUSVs is, the surface community would certify an element to go forward and operate with the fleet. If they work with other [robotic and autonomous systems] entities, the commander of RASWDC will create that total tailored force package,” Kilby said.
“The Secretary of War is developing capability very fast, from an unmanned perspective, and the Navy needs to do a better job of integrating with that capability, so we know what we’re receiving. Because we will have a manning, training and equipping responsibility for those things,” he continued.
He added that he was “not satisfied” with where the Navy was in preparation to receive the soon-to-arrive MUSVs, but believed the service had what it required to “provide the governance and structure you need moving forward.”
The Navy has cited a broad range of potential roles and uses for the MUSV, from reconnaissance and surveillance platforms to controllable weapons carriers, thanks to modular payloads.
Speaking about unmanned systems more generally, Kilby said the Navy, while making progress on training, had ground to cover to make the systems an integrated part of the fleet.
“It is the force development, the employment, the development beyond the [concept of operations] that we need help with,” Kilby said, “And [having] a sustainable plan so that we can bring that force to bear when we need it.”
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