{"id":37165,"date":"2019-01-29T16:53:01","date_gmt":"2019-01-29T16:53:01","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/defensenews\/uncategorized\/2019\/01\/29\/the-us-navy-looking-to-ease-into-its-unmanned-robot-ship-future\/"},"modified":"2026-08-07T23:01:50","modified_gmt":"2026-08-07T23:01:50","slug":"the-us-navy-looking-to-ease-into-its-unmanned-robot-ship-future","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/defensenews\/naval\/2019\/01\/29\/the-us-navy-looking-to-ease-into-its-unmanned-robot-ship-future\/","title":{"rendered":"US Navy looks to ease into using unmanned robot ships with a manned crew"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

WASHINGTON \u2014 Large and medium-sized unmanned surface combatants<\/a> under development by the U.S. Navy will likely have crews aboard, at least at first.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

As the force looks to integrate more unmanned surface vessels into its future fleet, the ships will likely have sailors aboard, at least in the near term <\/a>while the Navy gets comfortable with new construct, said the Chief of Naval Operations N96 office\u2019s surface warfare director, Rear Adm. Ron Boxall<\/a>, in an interview with Defense News last month.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cI expect it won\u2019t be immediately unmanned,\u201d Boxall said. \u201cWe\u2019re going to design these things with the idea that we\u2019re going to put people on them in the near term. Then maybe move toward fully unmanned when we think the technology and the understanding of how we will use them matures.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Boxall said the Navy will need to build trust in unmanned platforms with, for example, the Coast Guard, which is responsible for enforcing safe navigation rules in and around U.S. waters, but that the force needed to be ready for a future where unmanned surface vessels can serve as sensors and shooters in a distributed network of ships.<\/p>\n\n\n\t