Photo By Petty Officer 1st Class Claire Alfaro | NAVAL BASE SAN DIEGO (Apr. 25, 2025) - Vice Adm. Brendan McLane, commander, Naval...... read more read more
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NAVAL BASE SAN DIEGO (April 25, 2025) – Commander, Naval Surface Force, U.S. Pacific Fleet (CNSP) established Unmanned Surface Vessel Squadron (USVRON) 7 at Naval Base San Diego during a ceremony, April 25.
USVRON 7 oversees a fleet of small, unmanned surface vessels (sUSV). During the ceremony, Cmdr. Matthew Martinez assumed command of the newly established USVRON 7.
“While our focus will be advancing unmanned capabilities, none of this is possible without the human operators, planners, and technicians,” said Martinez. “Sailors are our center of gravity and enable our efforts in this new era of unmanned robotic warfare…We will bring the manned-unmanned hybrid fleet to life.”
USVs, including the Global Autonomous Reconnaissance Craft (GARC), provide additional warfighting capability and capacity to augment the Navy’s traditional combatant force, providing commanders with a greater range of capabilities and employment options to increase the Fleet’s tactical and strategic advantages. The goal for USVs is to provide the fleet with operations in conjunction with carrier strike groups, expeditionary strike groups, surface action groups, or even independently.
Manufactured by the Maritime Applied Physics Corporation, GARCs are 16-foot USVs that enable research, testing, and operations that will allow integration throughout the surface, expeditionary, and joint maritime forces.
Commander, Naval Surface Forces U.S. Pacific Fleet Vice Adm. Brendan McLane delivered the keynote speech at the ceremony.
“As their capabilities mature, USVs are proving to be essential tools for distributed maritime operations—providing warfighters with flexible, scalable options rooted in the inherent strengths of unmanned technology,” said McLane. “We must lead with urgency, pushing this innovation from concept to combat power. It’s not optional, it’s a combat imperative.”
USVRON 7 incorporates the newest rating, the robotics warfare (RW) specialist into their teams. They will enable Robotic Autonomous System (RAS) operations and maintenance at the tactical edge and be the subject matter experts for mission autonomy, navigation autonomy, data systems, artificial intelligence, and machine learning on the RAS platforms.
USVRON 7 reports to Surface Development Group (SURFDEVGRU) 1, under the direction of Cdre. Garrett H. Miller.
“The establishment of USVRON 7 is a pivotal step in advancing the U.S. Navy’s hybrid fleet that integrates manned and unmanned systems in maintaining maritime dominance,” said Miller. “It’s another shining example of our commitment to the future of robotic and autonomous systems and greatly contributes to multiple Navy lines of effort, including, enhanced maritime domain awareness, sea denial and mission flexibility in contested environments.”
The mission of USVRON 7 is to deliver the most formidable, unmanned platforms in the maritime domain. USVRON 7 innovates through resilient distributed systems in a bandwidth-limited or denied environment. During expeditionary, joint, and combined operations, Sailors use unmanned technologies to enhance the decision speed and lethality of the force. USVRON 7’s motto is “FIGHT LIKE HELL.”
The mission of CNSP is to man, train, and equip the Surface Force to provide fleet commanders with credible naval power to control the sea and project power ashore.
For more news from Commander, Naval Surface Force, U.S. Pacific Fleet, visit https://www.surfpac.navy.mil/.
| Date Taken: | 04.25.2025 |
| Date Posted: | 04.28.2025 17:54 |
| Story ID: | 496228 |
| Location: | CALIFORNIA, US |
| Web Views: | 282 |
| Downloads: | 0 |
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