Unmanned Surface Vessels: Enhancing the Battle Force

摘要

To date, RHIB-sized armed and unarmed unmanned surface vessels (USVs) have been deployed on force protection, infrastructure security, and general patrol missions, as well as in the mine countermeasures role. Focus is now shifting to the introduction of much larger USVs which can be fully integrated into the battle force to significantly enhance fleet combat capabilities. Globally, the United States Navy (USN) is at the forefront of this development. The service is interested in procuring both Large Unmanned Surface Vessels (LUSV) and Medium Unmanned Surface Vessels (MUSV); additionally, the USN is planning to field Extra-Large Unmanned Underwater Vehicles or XLUUVs (which are beyond the purview of this article.)