U.S Navy Plans to Integrate Unmanned Systems Into Operations, a review of an article that appeared in Unmanned Systems magazine.
Once only thought of as experimental, unmanned marine systems are being integrated into the U.S. Navy’s operations at an increasing rate. This is due to several factors including the advancement of battery technology, the reliability of the autonomous logic, and the increasingly diverse platforms that are being developed which can be networked together as a force multiplier (Tuttle, 2018). This idea of interconnected platforms will require a radical shift in the way the Navy has been historically operating, from the highly specialized mission segregated by class of ships to the aviation units aboard aircraft carriers.
This integration will most likely start with the MQ-4C Triton, which is the Navy variant of the Global Hawk, and will provide intelligence and surveillance capabilities to fleets from land bases strategically chosen to provide the best coverage and to alleviate the need for manned naval units to patrol large areas of ocean (Jane’s, 2019). This integration of manned and unmanned systems is not without its problems, the military is not afraid to adopt new technologies, but first and foremost they must be reliable, particularly at sea where space is at a premium either operating on or below the surface.
The technologies involved must be both reliable and robust. The operating environment of the military is much different than the commercial arena for unmanned systems. Not only must the systems be durable, but the ease of use is another factor and how these new systems work with the already existing ones that are in current use. The military is not going to retool an operation to suit a new technology due to the investment of equipment and training that has already taken place. More likely these new systems will be assisting ones in use to enhance their capabilities and act as a force multiplier.
Another problem with combining manned and unmanned operations together, particularly in a military environment, is the users trusting the systems. Using air, sea, and subsurface assets together may look on paper as a force multiplier, the problem occurs when the system does not function as desired and instead of assisting and enhancing the effectiveness of the Navy, it becomes a hindrance (Tuttle, 2018). This could be particularly dangerous in submarine operations that are combined with unmanned underwater vehicles or UUV’s (Tuttle, 2018). By their very nature, submarines are independent operators and having to coordinate with UUV’s in an environment that is not conducive to communication without either a hard line or using sound can be detrimental to the submarine.
Adoption of new technologies in the military can be beneficial to its overall effectiveness and the enhancement of operations, what must be done carefully though is deciding what mission will be accomplished by the unmanned systems. Areas such as surveillance would be greatly enhanced, particularly in air operations from a carrier thus alleviating pilots of this arduous task and keeping them ready for other operations.
Overall, the U.S. Navy is moving forward with the integration of unmanned systems into its operations, but now they will most likely be limited in scope and designed to enhance manned operations most likely through surveillance or other operations such as undersea mine detection. If their use is to expand and come to the forefront the technology must mature and the operators will need to have a high degree of trust to use them particularly during combat operations. Once this is accomplished, they will then become a primary system in the Navy’s arsenal and act a force multiplier to expand the capabilities of a fighting force that has had its mission mandate change multiple times over its existence.
Jane’s. (2019, April 4). Northrop Grumman RQ-4 Global Hawk. Retrieved from Jane’s Unmanned Aerial Vehicles and Targets: https://janes.ihs.com/Janes/Display/juav1320-juav?
Tuttle, R. (2018, Spetember). Widespread Integration: U.S. Navy’s New Roadmap See’s Vast Potential For Unmanned Systems. Unmanned Systems, pp. 36-41.
Patrick Carroll 