Navy sees littoral combat ship as Robotic systems platform.

• Author: Tadjdeh, Yasmin
• Position: Industry Viewpoint

* As the future of the littoral combat ship is called into question by high-ranking government officials, the Navy is continuing on its path to equip it with a variety of unmanned systems.

The LCS--which has over the years seen its survivability in warfare criticized, its planned buy slashed and a restructuring of future vessels into upgraded frigates--is one of the Navy's most controversial shipbuilding programs. In just the past year, five ships have been operationally impaired by "engineering causalities of concern," said Sean Stackley, the Navy's assistant secretary for research, development and acquisition. The service has conducted formal engineering reviews and command investigations to find the root cause, he added.

Despite its issues, the LCS is envisioned as a platform from which the service will launch a myriad of new unmanned systems, said Nidak Sumrean, executive director at the Navy's program executive office for LCS.

"LCS is the first ship class designed and built up, the keel up, if you will, to support unmanned systems," he said during a speech at the Association for Unmanned Vehicle Systems International's annual defense conference. "We've got unmanned systems that are below the water, on the water and in the air."

The technologies will be key to the success of the littoral combat ship, he said. To that effect, the Navy is investing heavily in them, he added.

In fiscal year 2016 the program office allocated about $82 million for unmanned systems, he said. In the fiscal year 2017 budget request it increased that to $263 million, Sumrean said.

"That's a 70 percent growth," he said. "I don't know where else in the department you'll see from year to year a 70 percent growth in the portfolio.

"That shows that there is commitment from the leadership, from the comptroller ... to be able to kind of put our money where our mouth is when it comes to bringing those capabilities to bear," he said.

Unmanned vehicles will be one way for the Navy to rapidly procure new capabilities and place them in the fleet, he said. "That's how you bring that technology edge," he noted.

Unmanned platforms are a way for the service to take sailors out of harm's way, he said. "It reduces the risk to human life because you extract the human, if you will, from the threat box," he said.

The Navy needs vehicles that are affordable, he added. "You can't be a high-priced item if you're going to be expendable or disposable," he said.

Unmanned systems will be...