Unmanned Systems Make A Splash During RIMPAC.

• Author: Carberry, Sean

PEARL HARBOR, Hawaii--The Rim of the Pacific military exercise--first held in 1971--might be middle-aged as a concept, but with each iteration it looks to try out fresh concepts and technology. RIMPAC 2022 was no different, with dozens of experimental technologies being tested during the biennial exercise.

"We're taking initiatives that were identified throughout the past two years that we wanted to test, and we brought them out here to RIMPAC," said Capt. Dan Brown, assistant chief of staff in the N8/9 directorate of 3rd Fleet.

With 26 nations, 38 ships, four submarines, 170 aircraft and 25,000 personnel participating in the exercise, "it's a great way to get things on the ships and get it evaluated in the hands of sailors and see if it works out," said Brown, who was overseeing experimentation during the exercise, which took place in Southern California and Hawaii Jun. 29 through Aug. 4.

And while there were critical experiments going on to test cyber-security, networks, virtual reality training systems and personal protective gear, there was clearly a crowd favorite among the participants.

"What's also new in this RIMPAC is a lot more integration of unmanned systems--both on the surface, in the air, under the surface," said Vice Adm. Michael Boyle, the commander of RIMPAC 2022.

The four unmanned surface vehicles that the Navy brought to the exercise carried specialized payloads for anti-submarine warfare, intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance, domain awareness and communications capability, he said. "So that's all kind of new."

Two of the USVs were designed and built as unmanned vessels: the Sea Hunter--originally developed by the Defense Advanced Research and Projects Agency--and the Sea Hawk--developed through the Office of Naval Research. The other two--Nomad and Ranger--were previously manned vessels that have been retrofitted with autonomous technology through the Ghost Fleet Overlord program.

Sea Hunter and Sea Hawk steamed from San Diego to Hawaii autonomously, Brown said. "This is the first time they're participating in an exercise to tbis magnitude, or really [the] first time they've done an extended exercise or been away from port."

All four conducted numerous operations during the exercise under the watch of Cmdr. Jeremiah Daley, head of the Navy's recently established Unmanned Surface Vessel Division One.

Sea Hawk and Sea Hunter are now a few years old and had gone through extensive testing by their developers before...