The U.S. Navy stands at the precipice of a new era of technology advancement. In an address at a military-industry conference, then chief of naval operations, Adm. Michael Gilday, revealed the Navy’s goal to grow to 500 ships, to include 350 crewed ships and 150 uncrewed maritime vessels. This plan has been dubbed the “hybrid fleet.” More recently, the current chief of naval operations, Adm. Lisa Franchetti, has stressed the importance of the hybrid fleet in her “Navigation Plan for America’s Warfighting Navy.”
The reason for this commitment to uncrewed maritime vessels is clear. During the height of the Reagan defense buildup in the mid-1980s, the Navy evolved a strategy to build a “600-ship Navy.” That effort resulted in a total number of ships that reached 594 in 1987. That number has declined steadily during the past three-and-a-half decades, and today the Navy has less than half the number of commissioned ships. However, the rapid growth of the technologies that make uncrewed surface vessels (USVs) increasingly capable and affordable has provided the Navy with a way to put more hulls in the water.
