Pentagon Wants Robot Submarines To Counter China

© Photo : courtesy of DARPA

Defense News: To compete with China, an internal Pentagon study looks to pour money into robot submarines

WASHINGTON — An internal study from the Office of the Secretary of Defense is looking to pour money into large robot submarines that the U.S. Navy says will free up its larger manned submarines for more complex missions, according to documents obtained by Defense News.

A study spearheaded by Defense Secretary Mark Esper’s internal think tank, the Cost Assessment and Program Evaluation office, recommended the Navy invest in as many as 50 extra-large unmanned underwater vehicles, or XLUUV, to massively boost the number of eyes the military has under the sea. That effort would be a fraction of the cost of Virginia-class attack submarines.

The study also recommends adding between two and three extra attack submarines over the 2016 force structure assessment that called for 355 ships, but the bulk of the new money will go toward unmanned systems.

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Update: US Military Reportedly Mulls Pouring Money Into Unmanned Submarines Instead of Conventional Warships (Sputnik)

WNU Editor: The US Navy is still far away from having such a fleet.