For centuries, commanders have struggled to collect enough information about the adversary in order to give them the edge in combat. As the Duke of Wellington famously said, “All the business of war is to endeavour to find out what you don’t know by what you do; that’s what I call guessing what’s on the other side of the hill.”
In a naval engagement that marked the turning point of World War II, the Battle of Midway turned on one commander having more of the right information than the other. U.S. Navy PBY scout planes located the Japanese carriers first, while the Japanese Imperial Navy found the U.S. Navy carriers too late to launch an effective attack. Had Japanese Admiral Isoroku Yamamoto learned the location of his adversary’s carriers just a bit sooner, he might well have been victorious.
Intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance precede every engagement
Any wartime engagement is typically preceded by some degree of intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance (ISR) that is, attempting to see: “What is on the other side of the hill.” But effective ISR comes at a cost. Whether it was scout planes in World Wars I and II, modern patrol aircraft such as the P-8 Poseidon, or other means, cost is typically the limiting factor in obtaining a sufficient degree of intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance.
One of the most important reasons for the high cost of ISR is simply because these platforms are manned by military people. For example, the P-8 Poseidon, an aircraft whose multiple missions includes ISR, requires a crew of seven highly trained aviation personnel. This is one reason why the U.S. Navy is moving to employing unmanned systems for several missions, intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance being among the most prominent.
The United States Navy’s commitment to unmanned systems
The U.S. Navy’s commitment to—and dependence on—unmanned systems is seen in the Navy’s “UNMANNED Campaign Framework.” Indeed, this report highlights the fact that the attributes that unmanned systems can bring to the U.S. Navy fleet circa 2030 and beyond have the potential to be transformational.
Two decades of conflict in Iraq and Afghanistan accelerated the development of unmanned aerial systems (UAVs) and unmanned ground systems (UGVs). More recently, the Department of the Navy has begun to provide increased support for unmanned surface vessels (USVs).
On May 17, Unmanned Surface Vessel Squadron Three was established at Naval Amphibious Base Coronado. The squadron will oversee a fleet of small USVs.
A focus on unmanned surface vessels
Like all unmanned systems, unmanned surface vessels hold the promise to be critical assets in all scenarios across the spectrum of conflict. Unmanned surface vessels enable warfighters to gain access to areas where the risk to manned platforms is unacceptably high due to a plethora of enemy systems designed to deny access.
Unmanned surface vessels are especially adept at conducting the intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance mission, and are typically better suited for this mission than their unmanned aerial vessels counterparts. By performing near-shore intelligence preparation of the battlespace (IPB), unmanned surface vessels increase the standoff, reach, and distributed lethality of the manned platforms they support.
The need to know “what’s on the other side of the hill,” is especially acute for the Navy and Marine Corps during an amphibious assault. The prospect of assaulting a heavily defended beach without knowing as much as possible about adversary forces and obstacles courts disaster. For this reason, Navy and Marine Corps officials invited an unmanned surface vessel manufacturer, Maritime Tactical Systems, Inc., to field its MANTAS USV as part of several exercises, experiments and demonstrations to evaluate its ability to support the ISR and IPB missions during an amphibious assault.
There are few missions more hazardous to the Navy-Marine Corps team than putting troops ashore in the face of a prepared enemy force. For this reason, the expeditionary assault force has focused on evaluating unmanned surface vessels to add to their “kit” to conduct critical ISR and IPB missions.
During the assault phase of a ship-to-shore maneuver advanced Naval technology exercise, which provided an opportunity to demonstrate innovative technology, the expeditionary commander used a USV to thwart enemy defenses. The amphibious forces operated an eight-foot MANTAS unmanned surface vessel which swam into the enemy harbor (the Del Mar Boat Basin on the Southern California coast), and relayed information to the amphibious force command center. Once this ISR mission was complete, the MANTAS USV was driven near the surf zone to provide IPB on obstacle location, beach gradient, water conditions and other information crucial to planners.
This exercise was a precursor to Bold Alligator, the annual U.S. Marine Corps Forces Command expeditionary exercise focused on exploring technologies valuable to amphibious forces. The early phases of Bold Alligator were dedicated to long-range reconnaissance. Operators at the exercise command center at Naval Station Norfolk drove the six-foot and 12-foot MANTAS USVs off North and South Onslow Beaches in North Carolina, as well as up and into the Intracoastal Waterway. These missions were designed to scout out adversary positions.
The use of medium and small USVs to conduct the ISR mission for expeditionary forces has continued in recent major exercises such as the Commander Task Force 59 International Maritime Exercise series in the Arabian Gulf which featured USVs from the United States as well as from several regional partners, and the Pacific Fleet Integrated Battle Problem series designed to put emerging technology into the hands of Fleet Sailors. Each exercise featured larger USVs such as the Devil Ray and Saildrone which provided longer endurance assets for this mission.
A future focus for the Navy and Marine Corps
Department of the Navy leaders recognize the importance of unmanned surface vessels to support Navy and Marine Corps operations, especially in the mission critical areas of ISR and IPB. While the Devil Ray USV is only one of several unmanned surface vessels the Navy and Marine Corps are evaluating, the fact that it is scheduled to be part of several exercises, experiments and demonstrations in 2024 and beyond is a clear indication that this platform has the form, fit and function to meet Navy and Marine Corps needs today and tomorrow.
Captain George Galdorisi is a career naval aviator and national security professional. His 30-year career culminated in 14 years of consecutive service as executive officer, commanding officer, commodore, and chief of staff. He enjoys writing, especially speculative fiction about the future of warfare. He is the author of 18 books, including four consecutive New York Times bestsellers. His latest book, published by the U.S. Naval Institute, is “Algorithms of Armageddon: The Impact of Artificial Intelligence on Future Wars.”
