Navy Needs More Robotic Vessels to Take on China.

• Author: Low, Thomas
• Position: NDIA POLICY POINTS

In contrast to the land-based, high-intensity artillery battles and trench warfare currently raging in eastern Ukraine, the potential fight with the People's Republic of China will be primarily waged on, above and below the sea. Therefore, the ability of the U.S. Navy to project and sustain power over the vast distances of the Indo-Pacific will be crucial in any possible confrontation.

Yet, some of the United States' most anticipated advanced weapons systems are years away from being fully rolled out. The first B-21 Raiders will only enter service in the mid-2020s, the first Conventional Prompt Strike hypersonic missile will not be installed on Navy destroyers until late 2025 and the first Columbia-class nuclear submarine will not be delivered until 2027.

China might not wait until the 2030s when these weapon systems are fully online to take aggressive military action.

To deter and, if needed, defeat near-peer competitors in a conflict in the Indo-Pacific, the Navy needs to accelerate its incorporation of innovative, force-multiplying weapons systems in addition to the more exquisite systems in production.

Unmanned weapons systems fit that bill. Uncrewed vessels can extend the resilience and scouting range of other naval assets and be more easily integrated with allies.

Unmanned vessels' radar and sensors integrated with traditional cruisers, destroyers, submarines and aircraft carriers can create a networked fleet that's more resilient, because it's dispersed over greater distances and more difficult for enemies to target and destroy. An unmanned vehicle could also be paired with a manned asset such as a patrol boat to extend its radar barrier.

During the Rim of the Pacific, or RIMPAC, exercise last year, unmanned surface drones Sea Hunter and Sea Hawk were paired with the destroyers USS Fitzgerald and USS William P. Lawrence, displaying the commitment of the Navy to employing new unmanned platforms.

Another advantage of unmanned systems is that they provide a way for our allies and partners' militaries to remain more interoperable with U.S. forces. Unmanned systems can incorporate new technologies more quickly than manned platforms and can be more cost-effective. Thirty unmanned platforms operated during RIMPAC 2022 and exhibited the practicality of unmanned systems to allies and partners with less money, smaller fleets and growing fears of rising geopolitical tension.

Furthermore, unmanned systems are more readily available and can be...