US Navy stands up drone command to integrate air, sea and undersea tactics

The US Navy formally established the Robotic and Autonomous Systems Warfighting Development Centre in Virginia on September 24, tasked with turning its aerial, surface and undersea drones into an integrated fighting force.

The centre will develop doctrine and tactics for unmanned systems, train sailors, and test whether the platforms keep operating under realistic conditions. Chief of Naval Operations Admiral Daryl Caudle said years of robotic-systems work had proceeded separately across domains, that the next step is integration, and that "a prototype is not combat power."

US commanders have previously linked this drone capability to disrupting a PLA attack on Taiwan. The centre's budget and staffing have not been disclosed; its integration progress remains to be seen.