The United States Navy is set to test a revolutionary strategic concept this year, experimenting with new pairings of unmanned vessels (UVs) and its formidable carrier strike groups (CSGs). This initiative signals a significant shift in the naval force’s approach, aiming for enhanced flexibility and adaptability across operational theaters.
Historic First: A Drone Joins a Carrier Strike Group
Vice Adm. Brendan McLane, the Navy’s top surface warfare officer, recently announced at the annual WEST conference that a medium unmanned surface vessel (USV) will deploy alongside the aircraft carrier Theodore Roosevelt and its strike group, slated to get underway later this year. This deployment will serve as a crucial testbed for the Navy’s new „tailored force approach.”
„I think the important thing for us is to start getting into the rhythm of we’re going to do this for every strike group now, and we’re going to learn something different with every strike group,” McLane stated. „And that is super exciting, particularly for some of our younger sailors who are really into this.”
Tailored Strategy: Boosting Flexibility and Innovation at Sea
The Navy will evaluate how this initial pairing performs, subsequently assessing what other mission packages can be partnered for future carrier strike groups. Looking ahead, the service is considering coupling smaller USVs, such as global autonomous reconnaissance crafts (GARCs) that conduct reconnaissance missions, with ships like the Independence-class littoral combat ships (LCS), capable of launching and recovering these drones in an integrated manner.
„I think that’s the next step for us to learn from,” McLane added.
Admiral Caudle’s „Fighting Instructions”: Unveiling a New Naval Doctrine
This experiment aligns perfectly with Chief of Naval Operations Adm. Daryl Caudle’s „Fighting Instructions,” a document rolled out earlier this week. This strategic framework details how carrier strike groups will be supplemented with customizable forces, providing combatant commanders with fresh, mission-specific formation patterns.
Caudle’s instructions also include plans to execute a „hedge strategy,” which seeks to capitalize on unmanned systems and provide a range of tailored options. This strategy is designed to give the Navy greater flexibility to respond to a variety of scenarios.
Admiral Caudle had signaled his intention to release these plans back in January at the Apex Defense conference. He emphasized that the initiative would employ smaller forces specifically designed to address certain missions that do not require a full carrier strike group deployment.
„If I had a lot of strike groups, I could place these things all over the world,” Caudle explained in January. „But we don’t have enough, [and] as you think about these various missions around the world — whether it be choke point defense or protection, sea lines of communication, anti-submarine warfare, ISR, maritime domain awareness — I just, quite frankly, don’t need a strike group to do all those.”
