Theodore Roosevelt Carrier Strike Group to Deploy with Experimental Seahawk Unmanned Vessel

The aircraft carrier Theodore Roosevelt is preparing to deploy with a Seahawk medium unmanned surface vessel as part of its strike group. This marks the first time a Seahawk MUSV will accompany a carrier strike group on an operational deployment. The Seahawk is one of Leidos’ unmanned vessels and an upgraded design of the company’s Sea Hunter autonomous vessel.

It supports anti-submarine warfare and maritime domain awareness and stems from a Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency initiative. The Navy deployed four unmanned ships, including a Seahawk and a Sea Hunter, to the Western Pacific in 2023. S.

Pacific Fleet’s Unmanned Systems Integrated Battle Problem (UxS IBP) 21. The Navy officially announced the upcoming deployment with the MUSV at the Sea Air Space exposition in April. The service did not respond to questions about the exact underway date of the carrier strike group, how the deployment would guide unmanned CONOPS development, when the Navy plans to release an unmanned strategy, or what specific capabilities it wants to test at sea.

Bradley Martin, a retired Navy captain and senior policy researcher at RAND, said the deployment is a significant development. “Up to now, it’s all been a matter of testing, and the actual use in operational deployment is a major step,” Martin said. ” Bryan Clark, a retired submarine officer and senior fellow at the Hudson Institute, said the deployment shows progress.

“This is a regularly scheduled deployment by a full carrier strike group that shows MUSVs have progressed from science project to become part of the operational fleet,” Clark said. Experts said the deployment could lay the foundation for how the Navy develops its concept of operations for integrating unmanned systems into the fleet.