The U.S. Navy showed off its latest efforts in armed drone development, including test footage of an armed small unmanned surface vessel (USV) equipped with Korean-made guided rockets.
With up to 40% of the fleet projected to be unmanned by 2050, the U.S. Navy has ramped up its research and experimentation on these crewless vessels. So far, these efforts are mostly focused on the seaworthiness of USVs, with some examples including navigating global maritime traffic and bad weather. However, as the unmanned vessels are expected to supplement the fleet’s surface combatants, more efforts are being made to implement weaponry on them.
Among these efforts, some of the most notable include firing an SM-6 from USV Ranger in 2021. But this experimentation expands across the breadth of the U.S. Navy’s test fleet of unmanned vessels, which range from the larger Ranger to smaller boats.
Naval Sea Systems Command (NAVSEA) revealed footage and statistics of a test held by 4th Fleet during an update of the Program Executive Office of Unmanned and Small Combatants (PEO USC) Small USV efforts at the Surface Navy Association’s (SNA) annual symposium on Wednesday. While the Hybrid Fleet Campaign Event occurred in October, Capt. Matthew Lehmann of PMS 420 brought to light new details.
October’s demonstration included Textron’s Common USV (CUSV) armed with a LIG Nex1’s Poniard guided rocket system. Also known as the Korean-Low cOst Guided Imaging Rocket (K-LOGIR), the system was created for South Korean coastal defense requirements against North Korean swarms. In 2019, it became the first weapon system from South Korea to participate in a Foreign Comparative Test.
With surveillance support from an Aerosonde unmanned aerial system, the CUSV successfully engaged and sunk the target with six missiles. According to the presentation at SNA, this event saw the “first small USV to successfully fire live missiles.” It should be noted that Poniard previously scored similar successes in the Foreign Comparative Test.
While simple, the test marked the “first complete unmanned kill chain” of the involved systems and provided important feedback for future efforts on armed USVs.
Other efforts in 4th Fleet relating to Small USV development include the procurement of 24 Greenough Advanced Rescue Craft (GARC) and 10 Saildrone Voyagers. Lehmann emphasized the speed at which these USVs were procured. The presentation also mentioned that PMS 420 was looking for another type of Long-Dwell Small USV for further maritime domain awareness support.
