The War Zone – We are getting a clearer idea of how the Navy thinks it can use these ships, which have an estimated cost of $17B per vessel.

USNI News – While the war in Iran has siphoned assets from the Pacific and is using “finite levels” of munitions, it is also providing valuable lessons that will ultimately strengthen regional defense, Indo-Pacific Commander Adm. Samuel Paparo said Tuesday.

Breaking Defense – As the Navy looks at maritime warfare in the Gulf, the Black Sea, and potentially the West Pacific, its leaders are increasingly convinced the future fleet requires a wide range of unmanned systems, each specialized for a different region and mission.

Breaking Defense – Anduril is teaming up with UK-based Kraken Technology Group to make small unmanned surface vessels (USVs) for the US Navy at a time when the service is increasingly focused on unmanned tech.

Naval News – The U.S. Navy is moving forward with PAC-3 MSE integration on the service’s surface fleet in a move to rapidly expand interceptor inventories, pushing forward a capability that Lockheed Martin has been developing for nearly a decade, according to its top missile defense executives.

USNI News – The U.S. Navy is looking to field thousands of unmanned surface vessels to the Indo-Pacific by 2030, according to the service’s drone boat development group.

USNI News – The Navy wants to buy the first Trump-class battleship in next year’s budget submission, a schedule that would allow the service to make the purchase before President Donald Trump leaves office.

USNI News – The Navy is finalizing a new study that is examining the Ford-class carrier to determine whether it should alter the design of the next two in the class, Secretary of the Navy John Phelan said on Tuesday.

USNI News – The architects of the Navy’s new shift in building submarines were given the green light by senior Pentagon leaders to “bust things up” to get submarine repair and construction back on track as the service races to deliver the first Columbia-class ballistic missile submarine on time.

Navy Lookout – With Iran possibly having mined the Strait of Hormuz, it has been confirmed that the US Navy is deploying autonomous systems in an effort to assess and then clear the mine threat. This will be a major test of autonomous mine countermeasures capabilities in a very demanding operational environment.

Naval News – The new Spectre unmanned surface vessel (USV) is saildrone’s largest offering yet, standing in at 52 meters (~170 feet) in length, enabling the carriage of a multitude of payloads matching different mission sets. The Medium-size USV was unveiled today at Sea Air Space 2026.

Clio’s Musings – A propulsion disabler (PD) is a small, passive, torpedo-like device that serves as a cheap, non-lethal mine and torpedo warhead. The proposed munition’s purpose is to destroy a ship’s external propulsion or direction-control mechanisms, leaving the vessel stationary. Production of PDs is possible with today’s emerging robotics technologies.Future PD devices could be used in an autonomous swarm that combines the smallest explosive charge with the greatest disabling effect by attacking a ship at its most vulnerable point. Once PDs become widely available, they may well be the weapon of choice by all navies against civilian ships. Similarly, disabling an enemy’s naval ship rather than sinking it will almost always be the superior choice, certainly for the U.S. Navy. The logic that makes this so will compel adversary navies to make the same choice.

Defense Opinion – Mine warfare is far less mysterious than it appears when one understands the types of mines involved, the ways in which they are deployed, and the methods available to counter them. Iran is certainly capable of laying mines, but U.S. Central Command has spent decades observing Iranian exercises and conducting its own mine warfare training. These efforts have provided planners with substantial insight into seabed conditions in the Persian Gulf and the Strait of Hormuz.