The Navy on May 17 established the Unmanned Surface Vessel Squadron (USRON) Three on May, which is set to oversee another fleet of small USVs, during a ceremony at Naval Amphibious Base Coronado, Calif.
USVRON Three will specifically oversee a fleet of small Global Autonomous Reconnaissance Craft (GARC) and be led by Capt. Derek Rader.
Rader emphasized the importance of experimenting with these vessels to help the Navy integrate USVs into the fleet.
“This will be accomplished through experimentation with the fleet testing and doctrine drafted by operators you see today, who embody and execute the warfighting that we need to achieve to enable the full potential of unmanned systems,” he said during the ceremony.
The 16-foot-long GARCs were built by the Maritime Applied Physics Corporation. The Navy has been using these craft in tests for several years and plans to continue use them to enable research, test and operations to allow integration throughout surface, expeditionary and joint maritime forces, the Navy said.
“The Navy is placing unmanned systems in the hands of 400 of our most talented warfighters to help integrate, scale, experiment, and employ these systems,” Vice Adm. Brendan McLane, commander of Naval Surface Forces U.S. Pacific Fleet, said during the ceremony.
The service also noted USVRON Three will incorporate the new robotics warfare (RW) specialist rating into their teams. The Chief of Naval Operations announced the rating in February.
The Navy noted this will enable Robotic Autonomous System (RAS) operations and maintenance “at the tactical edge and be the subject matter experts for computer vision, mission autonomy, navigation autonomy, data systems, artificial intelligence, and machine learning on the RAS platforms.”
The Navy added that USRON Three’s mission is to deliver “the most formidable, unmanned platforms in the maritime domain,” and is building the knowledge needed to operate and maintain small USVs as well as spearheading development of tactical, techniques and procedures (TTPs) for small UV operations and sustainment.
USVRON Three will next report to Surface Development Group (SURFDEVGRU) One, under Cmdr. Shea Thompson.
“There are currently no boundaries, and we have an incredible opportunity to determine what right looks like within our sphere of influence,” Thompson added.
While no elaboration on the timeline to small USV full operational capability was provided, Thompson said the teams are “making considerable strides in validating small USV capability” and laying out a path to reach full operational capability “by a timeframe that matters.”
SURFDEVGRU 1 oversees the maintenance, training and manning oversight for USVs and Zumwalt-class destroyers.