US Navy’s drone fleet to counter China stumbles after test crashes

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NEW YORK: The US Navy has stopped pressure to prepare a raft of maritime drones after a series of failed tests. The Pentagon is designed to display high autonomous drone boats, the project trial is far off the coast of California last month, ending with accidents and software malfunction, which raised doubts about the naval technology’s ability to serve.

When officials entered to fix the software malfunction, another drone pot broke into the starboard of the useless boat, rotated on the deck, and crashed back in water – an incident caught in the videos obtained by Reuters.

According to a dozen people familiar with the program, the previously reported incident, including two ships built by US Defense Tech rivals Saronak and Blacky Technologies, is a series of recent failures for the construction of the Pentagon’s autonomous fleet.

According to four persons familiar with the matter, during a separate Navy test, during a separate Navy test, the captain of a support boot was thrown into the water when another sovereign Blacky plane suddenly intensified, in which the support boot was capped, according to four persons familiar with the matter. The captain was rescued and medical help was denied. The incident was first reported by Defense Scop.

According to a person with direct knowledge of the matter, both incidents arose from software failures and a combination of human error, including a defect in communication between ship system and external independent software, which, according to a person with direct knowledge of the matter, requested anonymity not to distribute sensitive information.

The Navy, Saronak and Blaxia refused to comment on the events.

Videos displaying drone crash confirms two writer sources, image format of landscape, GARC-096 name ID and global autonomous Reconpoint Craft (GARC) boat-to-file imagery structure.

US military leaders have repeatedly said that they need aerial and maritime drone independent crowds to hinder possible progress by China across the Taiwan Strait, in view of the outsourced effects of maritime drone in the Ukraine war. Taiwan has begun to get its own drones.

Drones manufactured in Ukraine, which often look like speedboats without seats, and they are able to carry weapons, explosives and surveillance equipment, mainly remote control and cost, close to 000 250,000-which makes them more and more effective for comic missions.

Meanwhile, the purpose of the United States is to build an independent fleet that can move in the crowd and without a human command. A maximum of a few million dollars per speedboat.

Brian Clark, an independent warfare expert at the Hudson Institute, said recent test failures highlight the challenges facing efforts to deploy newborn technologies. He will need to adopt his “plans because it better understands what the system can do and what they cannot do.”

Reuters found that naval issues are beyond working boats: its sovereign maritime drone account unit is also shaken by its high admiral firing, and a candidate with a Navy brass last month expressed a top official of the Pentagon’s official official concern.

Since the recent incident, the Pentagon’s Defense Innovation Unit (DIU), which received technology for tests, has indeed withheld a $ 20 million contract with L3 Harris for an indefinite period, which is one of the companies to provide a use of two companies, according to some of the companies.

The Pentagon did not answer questions about the cause of accidents or the L3 Harris contract, which has not been reported before.

A Pentagon spokesman said it “conducted a drone test between operators and the industry as part of a competitive and upheaval approach.”

L3 Harris refused to comment on the deal and directed the DIU to questions. The DIU refused to make any comment.

“The L3 Horse stands behind our sovereignty command and control product safety, integrity and ability,” said Toby Magsig, an autonomous software product monitor of Harris’s independent software products.

The rise of the marine drone

To accelerate its drone effort, the Pentagon launched a $ 1 billion Republican program in 2023, through which branches like the US Navy and DIU intend to get thousands of air and marine drones, as well as software to control them. The first system of this program is to be announced this month.

According to the Procurement Record, the Navy has pledged at least $ 160 million for Blaxia, which is producing dozens of global independent restoration craft boats in a month.

Saronak, which was recently worth $ 4 billion in a fund in support of Anderson Horwitz and 8VC, creates a competitive drone courser, but has not yet announced a major deal. The Federal Procurement Record shows that the company has developed at least $ 20 million from prototype contracts.

“This system will play a vital role in the future of the naval war by increasing ship access, improving the awareness of the situation and increasing war effects,” said Jim Kalby, the acting chief of the naval operations.

Navy’s uproar

Since returning to the office, President Donald Trump has made the drones field a top military priority. Last month, Trump’s “Big Beautiful Bill” included about $ 5 billion for maritime autonomous systems.

But, so far, the Navy’s approach has faced doubts under the new administration.

In April, the Navy’s key drone boot procurement unit – known as the program executive office unmanned and small fighter (PEO USC) – emphasized a successful demonstration of software used to control Blaxia ships in a post on LinkedIn, and pushed it a big step forward.

In response, the then Chief Colin Carol, the then Chief of Defense Steven Fanberg, suggested that the program was preparing a copy of other efforts within the Pentagon. He replied to the LinkedIn post, “I have a sense that the program has changes in the future. Carol, which is no longer with the Pentagon, refused to comment.

According to four persons familiar with the matter, the PEO USC was recently reviewed, which is why they are familiar with the matter, and can be reorganized or closed.

Two months after the Navy, he fired the unit leader, Rear Admiral Kevin Smith, as the Navy Inspector General proved to be a complaint against him due to loss of confidence in his leadership. Writers were unable to contact Smith.

During a meeting last month, Fanberg inquired to Navy officials about the capabilities of their sovereign ship, which was raised by the PEO USC, three people briefed about the meeting. People said that the fanberg was not affected by some of the capabilities achieved by the Navy and asked if they were investing.

The Pentagon spokesman said, “We will not comment on private internal meetings” and the PEO directed questions about the Navy about the USC.

The Navy refuses to review the meeting or the acquisition unit. Spokeswoman Timothy Hawkins said that the PEO is standing with its mission, which includes its role as the Authority for the restoration and modernization of unmanned marine systems.

The uproar comes when shipmakers and software providers are angling to secure even larger independent maritime projects, such as unmanned submarines and cargo carrying ships.

Last week, the PEO USC began accepting the modular attack surface craft tips to obtain medium and large ships that are capable of conducting containers, surveillance equipment, and strikes.

The Navy is in the waters, which is trying to restore decades of tradition, said TX Hems, an independent weapons specialist and a colleague of the Atlantic Council, TX Hems.

“You have found a system that is accustomed to building big things, taking years to decide, and now suddenly you are asking them to move forward,” he said.