The U.S. Navy has established a new command dedicated to developing and employing robotic and autonomous systems, creating a central organization for unmanned warfare development across the service and the Marine Corps.
The Robotics and Autonomous Systems Warfighting Development Center, or RASWDC, is headquartered at Joint Expeditionary Base Little Creek-Fort Story in Virginia. The Navy said the center will create tactics, techniques and procedures for unmanned systems and oversee the operational employment of robotic and autonomous capabilities.
Building a common operational framework
RASWDC is developing a phased implementation plan covering its command structure, relationships with missions and other organizations, and resource requirements. The center is also intended to connect work already being conducted in different parts of the Navy rather than replace existing expertise, according to Rear Adm. Melvin Smith, the command’s leader.
The goal is not to replace the hard-earned expertise already resident across our Navy. It is to connect it.
Rear Adm. Melvin Smith, RASWDC commander
Smith said the center would help ensure that unmanned-systems work carried out in one part of the Fleet informs efforts elsewhere, while keeping the sailors and operators who use the systems central to the process. He made the remarks during a ribbon-cutting ceremony establishing the command, according to his prepared comments reported by Breaking Defense.
Linked to acquisition and fielding
The Navy established a Direct Reporting Portfolio Manager for Robotic and Autonomous Systems, known as DRPM RAS, in August. The portfolio manager and RASWDC are intended to work closely to advance robotic and autonomous systems acquisition and fielding throughout the Navy and Marine Corps.
Under the planned relationship, testing and training information generated by the development center will support decisions on bringing systems into service. The Navy describes the two organizations as supporting testing, training, acquisition and fielding, linking capability development with operational use.
Chief of Naval Operations Adm. Daryl Caudle has for months supported creating a dedicated warfighting and development center for robotic and autonomous systems, similar to Navy centers serving other communities, including aviation, surface warfare and mine warfare. He previously said the service needed to move unmanned capabilities beyond individual units and organize them into composite mission sets.
Part of a wider unmanned force strategy
The new command follows Caudle’s February “Fighting Instructions” framework, which introduced a “hedge force strategy” pairing unmanned systems with traditionally manned platforms. The framework is intended to give combatant commanders a range of tailored options, according to the Navy’s description.
The guidance also directed the Navy to determine how fleet commanders and the joint force should incorporate robotic and autonomous systems into decisions involving strategic laydown, dispersal and global force management. The document stated that no established model yet exists for making those decisions with RAS capabilities.
Caudle said the development center would provide a direct feedback link between capability development and operational employment, with the stated aim of accelerating delivery of unmanned capabilities from development organizations to the Fleet. The Navy said the command will provide sailors with specialized doctrine, training and tactics for employing the systems in high-end operations.
