For the first time in Navy history, a U.S. carrier group is operating with a large autonomous surface ship in the mix. "This is the first carrier strike group to ever deploy with a large-size unmanned surface vessel," he said, calling it "a force multiplier" and adding, "Imagine having more guns out there."
The deployment centers on the USS Theodore Roosevelt, which got underway from San Diego in late September and is headed to the Middle East. The uncrewed ship is a Leidos Inc. Seahawk. According to Leidos, Roosevelt sailors operated the Seahawk during this year's Rim of the Pacific drills held near Hawaii.
A person familiar with the Seahawk described it as a 145 ton, 137 foot long vessel built to range over long distances for months at a time. That person said the Seahawk is moving out from the West Coast together with the carrier and its escorts. The pairing underscores how the Pentagon is leaning more on uncrewed platforms as modern conflict shifts. He pointed to real-world cases: in the Middle East, U.S. forces employed a Corsair II autonomous vessel made by Saronic Technologies Inc. to save two Apache helicopter pilots, and they also used unmanned underwater vehicles to remove mines in the Strait of Hormuz.
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According to a U.S. official speaking to Bloomberg News, the Roosevelt group is moving toward the region to broaden choices for U.S. commanders should President Donald Trump choose to restart military strikes against Iran. If uncrewed systems prove their worth in a high profile deployment like this, it reinforces a trend that touches shipbuilders, defense primes, and the software and sensor makers behind autonomy. Translation for regular investors: keep an eye on how often these platforms show up in real missions, not just demos, because adoption curves can shift contract backlogs and revenue timing in a hurry.
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