
Naval Forces Central Command’s Task Force 59 tested the combat capabilities of unmanned surface vehicles (USVs) with the first live fire exercises in the Persian Gulf last month, the service said this week. During Exercise Digital Talon on Oct. 23, Task Force 59 paired unmanned platforms with regular crewed ships for manned-unmanned teaming to identify and target simulated hostile sea forces, represented in a target boat. Then the Navy used a separate unmanned platform to engage and destroy the targets.…