WASHINGTON – An uncrewed surface vessel has deployed with a US aircraft carrier strike group for the first time in the US Navy’s history.
Acting Navy Secretary Hung Cao mentioned the presence of the large autonomous vessel in a panel discussion about the Pentagon’s use of such systems at an Army conference in Washington on Oct 14.
The USS Theodore Roosevelt carrier group left its San Diego home port in late September headed for the Middle East.
“This is the first carrier strike group to ever deploy with a large-size unmanned surface vessel,” Cao told the audience. “This is a force multiplier. Imagine having more guns out there.”
The uncrewed vessel was a Leidos Inc Seahawk, a 145-ton, 137-foot-long surface vessel designed to operate over extended distances for months, according to a person familiar with the ship.
The Seahawk is sailing from the West Coast with the carrier and its escort vessels, said the person.
The presence of the large autonomous vessel in a carrier strike group – possibly the most potent symbol of global US military power projection – underscores the Pentagon’s increased reliance on uncrewed platforms as modern warfare evolves.
Cao referred to US forces in the Middle East already having used a Corsair II autonomous vessel built by Saronic Technologies Inc to rescue two Apache helicopter pilots.
He also said unmanned underwater vessels were deployed to remove sea mines in the Strait of Hormuz.
The strike group is en route to the Middle East to give US commanders more options if President Donald Trump chooses to restart military strikes against Iran, a US official told Bloomberg News.
USS Roosevelt personnel operated the autonomous Seahawk vessel during 2026’s annual Rim of the Pacific naval exercises near Hawaii, Leidos said in a release in September. BLOOMBERG