Whereas the U.S. Navy is steaming full velocity forward in growing unmanned floor and undersea drones to reinforce the fleet of the longer term, the knowledge know-how and synthetic intelligence that can drive these platforms stays a piece in progress. The ocean service wants to higher map out its efforts, in response to a authorities watchdog report launched this week.
Navy shipbuilding plans name for spending greater than $4 billion on such drones over the subsequent 5 years, however that plan “doesn’t account for the total prices to develop and function these techniques,” a Authorities Accountability Workplace report discovered.
Changing crews requires IT and AI capabilities that the Navy has solely begun to evaluate, in response to GAO.
“Whereas the Navy has established strategic targets for these efforts, it has not established a administration method that orients its particular person uncrewed maritime efforts towards attaining these targets,” the report states. “As such, the Navy is just not measuring its progress, akin to constructing the sturdy info know-how wanted to function the automobiles.”
GAO’s audit started in October 2020 and concluded this month.
It discovered that the Navy is “solely starting to evaluate (unmanned techniques’) results on current shipbuilding plans.”
“Whereas the Navy has outlined a plan to spend $4.3 billion on uncrewed maritime techniques in its shipbuilding plan, we discovered that this understates the prices related to these techniques as a result of it doesn’t account for all prices — particularly operations and sustainment, and the digital infrastructure essential to allow them,” the report states.
Funding unmanned growth may additionally come underneath stress from competing shipbuilding calls for, in response to the GAO.
It discovered that the Navy has but to face up standards for evaluating prototypes or growing higher schedules for such prototype efforts.
“With detailed planning, prototyping has the potential to additional know-how growth and cut back acquisition danger earlier than the Navy makes important investments,” the report states. “Since uncrewed techniques are key to the Navy’s future, optimizing the prototyping section of this effort is important to effectively gaining info to assist future selections.”
The Navy is trying to introduce a number of unmanned techniques into the fleet within the coming many years, in response to GAO, and whereas some software program might be distinctive to every platform, the Navy additionally desires to have a number of frequent digital infrastructure amongst these automobiles.
This digital infrastructure would contain AI capabilities constructed over time to higher assist the platforms talk, sense their environment and handle reams of information, the report states.
Navy officers instructed GAO that the ocean service wants a bunch of applied sciences, together with simulation software program, software program for autonomy and mission planning, giant datasets for machine studying, in addition to business tech and software program that may be shortly purchased and melded into Navy techniques.
Amongst its suggestions, the report states that the Navy ought to present Congress with a value estimate for the total scope of labor that might be required to make unmanned techniques a part of the fleet, whereas growing an method to refine this estimate within the subsequent shipbuilding plan.
The ocean service also needs to set up an “uncrewed maritime techniques portfolio” and assign an entity to supervise that portfolio, whereas providing extra element about the way it intends to succeed in its unmanned targets.
Analysis standards must be developed for assessing prototype readiness earlier than transferring to an acquisition program, and a grasp planning schedule must be constructed that folds in every unmanned system, laying out when the Navy plans to prototype and buy every platform, in response to GAO.
“The Navy usually concurred with all seven suggestions, however among the actions that it plans to soak up response to 3 suggestions wouldn’t totally tackle the problems that we focus on on this report,” the watchdog report states. “GAO maintains that totally implementing all suggestions is warranted.”
Geoff is a senior workers reporter for Army Instances, specializing in the Navy. He coated Iraq and Afghanistan extensively and was most just lately a reporter on the Chicago Tribune. He welcomes any and all types of suggestions at geoffz@militarytimes.com.