A successful missile launch concluded the week-long U.S. Navy exercise on the coast of San Diego, which demonstrated the coordinating capabilities of drones and various types of military weapon systems.
The final demonstration in the Unmanned Integrated Battle Problem (UxS IBP) 21 aimed to show how a guided-missile destroyer can use information received from an uncrewed surveillance system in order to hit an over-the-horizon target.
During the demonstration, the USS John Finn (DDG 113) destroyer launched the SM-6 Extended Range Active Missile, successfully striking the faraway target. The SM-6 missile is designed for anti-air warfare, anti-surface warfare, and it can also defend a ship against ballistic missiles, with the added benefit of being compact enough to be used even when there’s limited space on the ship.
The uncrewed aircraft was able to gather data based on the target’s electromagnetic signal, which is then transmitted to the crew on the USS John Finn ship. By using this information to calculate the target’s coordinates, the military crew on board then fired the SM-6 missile with perfect precision.
"The missile shoot was definitely challenging but ultimately incredibly rewarding. We were able to see our team's planning efforts culminate in yesterday's successful shoot," said Lt. Cmdr. Ryan Doyle, UxS IBP 21 lead live-fire planner.
The SM-6 missile shot proved once again that uncrewed aircraft are an essential military asset that optimize the capabilities of all other weapon systems.
Throughout the week, the U.S. 3rd Fleet, who executed UxS IBP 21, demonstrated various operational scenarios involving submarines, helicopter squadrons, guided-missile destroyers and littoral combat ships, in coordination with uncrewed aircraft. In the end, it’s safe to say that military drones are versatile and equally effective in surface and subsurface operations.
According to Capt. T.J. Zerr, commodore, Destroyer Squadron 21, "Unmanned technologies are being rapidly integrated into the Fleet for use, and our gained advantage is in the integration and collaboration between manned and unmanned capabilities tailored to the particular situation and phase of conflict."
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