Navy seeking interoperability between multi-domain robots.

• Author: Tadjdeh, Yasmin

* NEWPORT, R.I. -- In Rhode Island's Narragansett Bay, unmanned underwater vehicles cruised under the sea. One surfaced to launch a drone into the air. Another examined the ocean floor.

It was here in August at the Naval Undersea Warfare Center's Newport division that engineers, industry and academia experimented with a variety of unmanned systems.

The Annual Naval Technology Exercise--or ANTX 2016--was "designed to demonstrate future naval technologies in action today," said Rear Adm. Moises DelToro III, commander of the Naval Undersea Warfare Center.

Government and industry scientists were able to evaluate new technology at the research-and-development level before the systems become militarized and are integrated at the operational level, DelToro said during a speech.

ANTX 2016 focused on cross-domain communication between unmanned systems, he said. It also featured more than 300 personnel and 30 companies.

Mary Wohlgemuth, technical director at the center, said the Narragansett Bay test facility offered scientists and engineers an "ideal low-cost environment" to evaluate their systems.

Unmanned underwater vehicles have gained increased attention within the Defense Department. The Navy already employs a variety of systems. However, unless the military can connect UUVs to other unmanned vehicles, including aerial platforms, their utility won't be fully realized, said Patrick Kelley, director of cybersecurity for undersea warfare systems at NUWC Newport.

"Our focus is connecting what we would term all of the domains--the undersea, the surface and the air," he told National Defense. "We certainly see a time where ubiquitously there are different types of unmanned vehicles and sensors that are being connected and... [a] man in the loop on a platform, such as a submarine, is able to collaborate with and control all" of them.

That capability would give military officials increased situational awareness and serve as a force multiplier, he added.

"One of the very important things for the United States' submarine force is extending the reach of our platforms," he said. "What we know we need to do because of the size of the ocean, and the demand signals on the submarines, is give them...the ability to reach out farther than they can today with the sensors that are on the platform."

UUVs could be launched from submarines, surface ships or piers, he said.

During four occasions at the exercise, the scientists flew an AeroVironment-built Blackwing...