The Magura is 18 feet long, has a range of up to 500 miles and a 440 pound payload. By Barry Hatton
8 weeks ago The Navy destroyed dozens of Houthi drones and missiles in February during a relentless month of engagements with the militant group. The chief of naval operations said she's bullish on the Navy’s ability to operate a manned-unmanned fleet within the next decade or so. The Strait of Hormuz, connecting the Persian Gulf to the Gulf of Oman, for example, is known to have relatively bad visibility year-round. But for high-end operations, "you need to have both manned and unmanned assets complement each other." “We’re 10 years down the road, and we still don’t have something we can field?” The surface fleet has shot down scores of attack drones and missiles since October, activity without modern precedent in U.S. Navy history. Four medium USV prototypes spent five months in the region working with the Navy-Marine team and allies to push the limits of concepts of operations. A new concept would allow a deployed carrier strike group's cruisers and destroyers to be swapped out with fresh ships during deployment. In recent years, retention among SWOs has remained at approximately 34 to 35 percent, up from a 30 percent retention rate roughly 20 years ago. Load More