(Dan Tri) – The US dispatched a multi-functional unmanned surface vessel (USV) to a naval base in Japan, a move signaling a new role for unmanned ships in America’s Asia-Pacific strategy.
The US unmanned Ranger ship is said to have stopped at Guam and Okinawa on the way to the Japanese city of Yokosuka (Photo: SCMP).
The US has dispatched two USV ships to bases in Japan, in a move that defense analysts say may imply the Pentagon’s plan to use unmanned ships in its strategy to deter China.
According to a statement from the US 7th Fleet headquartered in Tokyo, sailors and rangers of the US 3rd Fleet departed from California to Yokosuka (Japan) last month as part of the `War
Before arriving at Yokosuka, the Mariner and Ranger stopped at the Indo-Pacific headquarters at Pearl Harbor in Hawaii, where the smaller USVs Hunter and Sea Hawk participated in another exercise last year.
IBP23.2 is an exercise focused on testing the use of USVs alongside manned ships in the Indo-Pacific.
This is the first time the US Navy has sent an unmanned ship such a long distance.
Lu Li-shih, a former instructor at the Taiwan Naval Academy in Kaohsiung, said that sending unmanned ships alongside warships is a new approach to naval combat, similar to aerial combat tactics.
According to him, the deployment of USVs and UAVs is part of an offset strategy to reduce the number of soldiers in modern warfare, with the ultimate goal of minimizing casualties.
`Satellite images and automatic maritime traffic identification systems of Guam and Okinawa show that two USVs and the destroyer USS Shoup were operating together on a long voyage, with signs indicating the Mariner
He added that the two USVs are equipped with combined weapons modules such as the US Navy’s standard missile-6, which can perform air defense, terminal ballistic missile defense and attack functions.
The development of USVs has been highlighted in the Pentagon’s reinvention initiative, a military technology innovation plan announced by US Deputy Secretary of Defense Kathleen Hicks in August. According to the plan, the Pentagon
According to the Rand Corporation, Washington is still the most powerful navy in the world, but they still have fewer active warships than Beijing.
The Ukraine conflict has shown the power of USV technology.
But this obstacle can be overcome.
`The US military also has such capabilities and can support Taiwan,` he added.
