Navy About To Get World’s Largest Unmanned Warship But Has No Plans To Use It
A Navy high-speed logistics ship received millions of dollars in modifications for unmanned operations, but there are no plans to use them.
BY
CHRISTOPHER P. CAVAS
| PUBLISHED SEP 26, 2022 5:35 PM
Navy About To Get World’s Largest Unmanned Warship But Has No Plans To Use It
CHRISTOPHER P. CAVAS
The U.S. Navy’s Military Sealift Command (MSC) is set to receive its newest ship, the thirteenth in a series of high-speed EPF expeditionary transports providing logistics services around the globe. But Number 13 is special – not only is it the first EPF fitted with autonomous navigation and operating systems, but it is possibly the world’s largest ship capable of unmanned operation.
Yet as of now, neither the Navy nor MSC has any plans to use the unmanned capability when the USNS Apalachicola (T-EPF 13) enters the fleet. Rather, MSC intends to send the vessel to the western Pacific to serve as a logistics ship with the U.S. Seventh Fleet.
It seems an odd choice, given the strong emphasis Navy leaders place on the importance of developing a fleet of up to 150 unmanned ships by the mid-2030s. While several medium-sized unmanned surface vessels are already in service or under contract, the size of the EPF puts it squarely into the large USV category, a type that could well be fitted with offensive missile systems.
The Apalachicola was launched last November by Austal USA in Mobile, Alabama. Since June 2022, the ship has run a series of autonomous trials of increasing complexity and distance. One conducted in late July into early August ranged as far as the southern tip of Florida and the Miami coast, high-traffic areas that would challenge the vessel’s autonomous navigation systems.
https://www.thedrive.com/the-war-zone/navy-about-to-get-worlds-largest-unmanned-warship-but-has-no-plans-to-use-it
