Ghost Fleet Overlord USV participates in ‘Dawn Blitz exercise
19 January 2021
by Richard Scott
An experimental Ghost Fleet Overlord unmanned surface vehicle (USV) has participated in a major amphibious exercise on the US Pacific coast, having previously transited over 4,700 n miles almost entirely autonomously.
Developed under a partnership between the US Department of Defense (DoD) and the US Navy (USN) through the Office of the Secretary of Defense’s Strategic Capabilities Office (SCO), the Overlord initiative is a joint programme designed to accelerate navy efforts to develop USVs and demonstrate increasingly capable autonomous behaviours. Outputs from the programme are informing the USN’s Large Unmanned Surface Vehicle (LUSV) acquisition effort.
WASHINGTON A Ghost Fleet Overlord unmanned surface vessel, part of a partnership between the Defense Department's Strategic Capabilities Office and the Navy, recently traveled a distance of more than 4,700 nautical miles, almost entirely autonomously.,
Posted: about 1 year ago
The most recent display of that maturity involved a USV traveling from the Gulf Coast to the coast of California, moving autonomously approximately 97% of the time. While the USV did have a crew on board, remote mission command and control for the trip was done from a remote location by sailors with Surface Development Squadron One.
One of the few times the USV was guided by its onboard crew was when it traversed the Panama Canal.
Optionally manned vessels provide a stepping stone to allow the navy and its sailors to more easily become familiar with the concept of autonomous operations than what would be possible with a fully autonomous ship.
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One of the two prototypes purchased by the Office of the Secretary of Defense s Strategic Capabilities Office for its Ghost Fleet Overlord program, aimed at fielding an autonomous surface ship capable of launching missiles. (U.S. Defense Department)
This is the first of a three-part series on the Navy’s struggles to develop unmanned ships and systems. WASHINGTON – After a bruising, year-long fight with Congress, part of the Navy’s plan to field unmanned ships appears to be on life support, making 2021 a crucial year for plotting a path forward.
Heritage Trustee Since 1989 (Apr. 7, 2016) Sea Hunter, an entirely new class of unmanned ocean-going vessel gets underway on the Williammette River following a christening ceremony in Portland. U.S. Navy photo by John F. Williams/Released
Key Takeaways
One crucial feature of Echo Voyager is the modular payload system that allows it to take on different payloads to support different missions.
In its 2021 budget request to Congress, the U.S. Navy asked for $580 million for research and development of unmanned vessels.
The appropriation is essential so the future Navy would include large and medium unmanned surface vessels and large unmanned submarines.