CNO charts schedule for hybrid manned/unmanned fleet

The US Navy plans significant investments for large unmanned surface vessel programmes. (US Department of Defense)

The US Navy's (USN's) most senior uniformed officer has outlined her planned timeline to transition the surface navy to a new hybrid force structure mixing manned and unmanned vessels.

Speaking at the AFCEA International and US Naval Institute WEST 2024 conference in San Diego, California, on 13 February, Chief of Naval Operations (CNO) Admiral Lisa Franchetti said the navy road map was looking out across three five-year Future Years Defense Programs (FYDPs).

Having already introduced unmanned underwater vehicles and unmanned aerial vehicles to service, the USN is now planning to invest significantly in a new generation of large unmanned surface vessels (LUSVs) designed to augment and complement manned surface combatants within a future hybrid fleet construct.

According to Adm Franchetti, the current FYDP (2024–28) is focused on prototyping, experimenting, learning, and putting into place the infrastructure for unmanned operations. “In this first FYDP, [these] are some of the things that we're learning, and [we're] putting into place these enablers,” said Adm Franchetti. “Then the next FYDP is the actual procurement of those unmanned platforms, and then by the third FYDP, they'll actually be operating.”

Adm Franchetti added that increased demand for sailors with expertise in autonomous and unmanned systems is already driving the navy to expand its human force structure to adapt to, and reflect, the proliferation of these disruptive and novel technologies. “We're mapping individual talent – our best and brightest – to the task,” she told WEST 2024. “For example, two junior officers [are in command of] Task Group 59.1 and Task Force Hopper that conceptualise, test, and operationalise our newest and most consequential technologies.”