Development of Unmanned Surface Vehicle in U.S.military and their operational application
Driven by a new round of technological and military revolutions,the U.S.military is vigorously developing Unmanned Surface Vehicle(USV)to promote the systematic generation and practical application of unmanned combat forces.It is found through analysis that USV development in the U.S.military has gone through three phases,exploration and evaluation,rapid development,and practical application,and is showing an accelerating tendency.A series of steps have been taken to advance the generation of USV combat capability,including iterating and improving development plans,frequently promoting equipment R&D and procurement,establishing specialized units for testing and application,and participating in exercises to validate equipment capabilities.It is found through the analysis and evaluation of numerous exercises that U.S.USV will continue to rely on remote operations from shore-based or shipborne command centers,and will gradually improve their autonomous control performance.The USV will be deployed forward to frontline waters separately for distributed and coordinated detection,and will,in coordination with other platforms,perform distributed strikes either as weapons and munitions depot or directly acting as suicide platforms.