U.S. Navy’s New Task Force 59 Teams Manned with Unmanned Systems for CENTCOM’s Middle East
On 8 September 2021, the U.S. Navy announced the commissioning of a Task Force 59, a new task force that combines manned with unmanned systems and artificial intelligence for maritime operations in the U.S. Navy’s 5th Fleet area of operations, or U.S. Naval Forces Central Command (NAVCENT). This announcement came from Vice Admiral Brad Cooper, U.S. Fifth Fleet commander, U.S. Naval Forces U.S. Central Command, and Captain Michael Brasseur via a phone conference with media reporters. Task Force 59 aims to use unmanned air, sea, and underwater systems in an operational maritime environment to test, integrate, learn lessons from, and practice deployment and tactics for the NAVCENT.
Peter Ong 09 Sep 2021
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The U.S. Navy is no stranger to the use and deployment of unmanned systems (such as a Sea Guardian aerial drone), but according to Vice Admiral Brad Cooper, Task Force 59 will be the U.S. Navy’s first employment of unmanned aerial systems (UAS), unmanned sea vessels (USV), and unmanned underwater vehicles (UUV) in numbers that combine their capabilities with manned platforms for multidomain operations in all areas of the maritime battlespace from air to below the sea with the goal of using unmanned systems that have not been used before. Naval News reached out to NAVCENT’s Public Affairs Officer for clarification on the quantity and type of unmanned systems within Task Force 59 and the CENTCOM’s spokesperson replied, “We’re not discussing specific platforms or capabilities. Similarly, we’re not discussing the size or footprint of our current unmanned assets in the region. Regarding funding, U.S. Naval Forces Central Command established the task force with existing resources. No additional funding was required. On your last question [regarding the primary controlling platform], it depends on the system. But as I’ve already mentioned, we’re not discussing specific platforms or capabilities.”
The CENTCOM spokesperson declined to answer to Naval News’ inquiry on if any of the U.S. Special Warfare Command’s (USSSOCOM) Naval Special Warfare Command (NAVSPECWARCOM) platforms, manned or unmanned, will be part of NAVCENT’s Task Force 59 or if any Classified unmanned systems will be fielded.
https://www.navalnews.com/naval-news/2021/09/u-s-navys-new-task-force-59-teams-manned-with-unmanned-systems-for-centcoms-middle-east/
