US Navy deploys unmanned maritime drone to support carrier strike group in historic first
The U.S. military is deploying a sizeable autonomous maritime drone with a Navy carrier strike group to support and enhance a real-world conflict operation for the first time, according to the sea service’s acting Secretary Hung Cao.
“The Teddy Roosevelt Carrier Strike Group just deployed on October 8 with a medium-sized unmanned surface vessel. This is the first carrier strike group to ever deploy with a large-size unmanned surface vessel, and this is a force multiplier,” Cao said Thursday. “Imagine having more guns out there.”
He briefly confirmed the significant fleet integration during a panel with Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth and other senior officials at the Army’s annual AUSA conference.
USS Theodore Roosevelt is currently moving towards the Middle East, after departing California late last month.
This USV deployment with it comes as each of the individual military services and the broader joint force hustle to adopt drones and related autonomous systems to meet new demands emerging in contemporary warfare. For the Navy, that involves enabling a hybrid, “Golden Fleet” that fuses AI and robotic platforms with traditional manned ships in a way that rapidly transforms how sailors fight.
In a post online Tuesday, Cao announced that he had appointed Christopher Miller to serve as the portfolio acquisition executive for robotic and autonomous systems (PAE RAS).
The nascent RAS organization was launched earlier this year as part of the Navy’s broader effort to connect surface, undersea, and aerial drones and swarms across its global fleet.
On Thursday’s AUSA panel, Cao mentioned the Navy’s deployment of Saronic’s Corsair USV to rescue a downed helicopter pilot and gunner in the Strait of Hormuz over the summer.
“Then we also use the unmanned underwater vehicles to de-mine that area,” Cao said. “It can’t be done in an uncontested area unless it’s using unmanned underwater vehicles.”
The acting secretary did not specify the type of medium-to-large maritime drone that’s deploying with the USS Theodore Roosevelt Carrier Strike Group. Multiple spokespersons from the Navy did not clarify the USV model in response to requests from DefenseScoop this week. Pentagon officials referred questions to the Navy.
Last year, the Navy merged its LUSV and MUSV programs into the Modular Attack Surface Craft (MASC) program. The systems were said to be equipped with varying assets depending on their missions, including containerized weapons and sensors or other electronic payloads.
The Sea Hunter and Seahawk USVs, manufactured by Leidos, marked original MUSV prototypes that were delivered for real-world surface fleet missions this year.
When asked if either were deploying now with the USS Theodore Roosevelt Carrier Strike Group, a Leidos source also referred DefenseScoop to the Navy, as they are now USN-owned vessels.
