DTN 100: The Rise of the Drone Boat

“The US military has been steadily exploring the potential applications of USVs to naval warfare for years. Four large USVs associated with the US Navy’s Ghost Fleet Overlord initiative have been autonomously transiting oceans since at least 2018 as part of a large-scale effort to add unmanned systems to the surface fleet. In 2021, the Navy stood up Task Force 59 to ‘rapidly integrate unmanned systems and artificial intelligence with maritime operations’ in the 5th Fleet area of operations in the Middle East, as officials announced at the time. The following year, the service established an Unmanned Surface Vessel Division to focus on building the ‘foundational knowledge’ for the regular operation and sustainment of USVs. And in mid-2024, the service unveiled a new Robotic Warfare Specialist to focus on drone systems and stood up a separate squadron of small USVs explicitly ‘to deliver the most formidable, unmanned platforms in the maritime domain,’ according to officials.”