US Navy wants to have 150 uncrewed vessels by 2045

The U.S. Navy wants more ships over the next 23 years, and more than 100 new vessels will be without crews. That’s the plan for the service according to the latest assessment from its chief of operations.

Adm. Mike Gilday laid out the Navy’s goal for the fleet’s growth by the year 2045, and one of the biggest plans is to have almost a third of all vessels being uncrewed. It would be a significant overhaul to the U.S. Navy, and the plan hints at how the Navy anticipates future conflicts going, the website taskandpurpose.com reported on July 31.

The Chief of Naval Operations Navigation Plan 2022 assessment lays out an ambitious plan to grow the American combat fleet, nearly doubling it from roughly 300 current combat ships to 523 in less than a quarter of a century. U.S. Naval Institute News first reported on the plan. It comes from Adm. Mike Gilday, Chief of Naval Operations, and part of the fleet expansion proposal is to add 150 robotic, uncrewed vessels, to serve a variety of purposes.

That situation is in part what is driving the need for more uncrewed vessels. The robotic portion of this planned fleet would be a mix of surface vessels and submarines, remotely controlled. Some could be used for surveillance, others as weapons platforms. The Pentagon has been exploring adding more drones and uncrewed equipment to its arsenal, from robotic ships to long-endurance drones. The call for robotic ships might also be a long-term strategy for the Navy to get around the recruiting issues currently plaguing the Navy and the U.S. military as a whole.