US Navy Establishes Unmanned Surface Vessel Squadron Three

The US Navy has formed a new unit to help the service successfully integrate small but advanced maritime drones into its forces.

This squadron will oversee a “fleet” of small uncrewed surface vessels- the Global Autonomous Reconnaissance Craft (GARC).

Its establishment is the most recent move of the Navy to build a hybrid fleet comprising manned and unmanned systems.

It came 3 months after the chief of naval operations, Adm. Lisa Franchetti, introduced a robotics warfare specialist general rating.

RW Sailors will enable Robotic and Autonomous System operations and maintenance at the tactical edge.

The Navy placed unmanned systems in the hands of 400 highly talented warfighters to test them.

The squadron was formed as the Pentagon advanced its Replicator initiative.

This initiative strives to field thousands of autonomous systems by 2025 to counter the Chinese military buildup.

The Pentagon has secured $500 million in funding for the first tranche in fiscal 2024 and has requested an additional $500 million for FY 2025.

The Navy is pursuing various unmanned surface vessels via the Replicator and a collaboration with the Defense Innovation Unit.