U.S. 5th Fleet Set to Expand Unmanned Ship Operations in Middle East
By: Mallory Shelbourne
January 14, 2022 5:53 PM
The U.S. Navy is emphasizing unmanned surface ships in its testbed effort for new platforms operating in U.S. Central Command, the commander of U.S. 5th Fleet said on Friday.
Starting this month, the International Maritime Exercise 22 will build on a special unmanned group that has been operating in 5th Fleet since September, Vice Adm. Brad Cooper said.
“Sixty nations [are] participating. Pretty remarkable. Ten of those nations are bringing unmanned platforms. It’ll be the largest unmanned exercise in the world,” Cooper, the commander of 5th Fleet, said at an event co-hosted by the Center for Strategic and International Studies and the U.S. Naval Institute.
Task Force 59, created last year to help the Navy expand its unmanned systems testing across domains, quickly evolved into working with regional partners – first with Bahrain, and then Jordan.
https://news.usni.org/2022/01/14/u-s-5th-fleet-set-to-expand-unmanned-ship-operations-in-middle-east
