61 of the organisation charged with procuring and managing all of the uncrewed aerial systems (UAS) and related equipment for the US Navy and Marine Corps. As the deputy PEO responsible for contingency operations and disruptive technologies, Sheehan handles procurements that are not normal programmes of record and need to progress quickly. As recent examples, he chose two lethal Counter-UAS (C-UAS) systems, the EAGLS from MSI Defense Solutions and the VAMPIRE from L3 Harris. VAMPIRE has been deployed to Ukraine, while EAGLS is set to go to the Middle East. “The EAGLS system I got on contract within 15 days, and with VAMPIRE, we delivered 14 systems into theatre within 60 days from concept to go,” he says. A key point of focus is accelerated fielding of artificial intelligence (AI) and autonomy. Sheehan explains: “The adversary is forcing us to change the way we fight, and we’re on a trajectory to take uncrewed platforms and arm them.” He asked for the industry’s help in building trust in AI-driven autonomous systems among the personnel who will have to use them, and the other US armed forces and ‘partner’ nations who fight alongside them. Ideas are also needed on how best to get AI technology into the hands of operators. “How do we train folks who can have that technology and that capability at the lowest possible level?” he asks. A further challenge is that there is no common definition of AI and autonomy agreed among the US Armed Forces, which makes it hard to get funds from Congress and to operate in combined arms teams, so the US Air Force (USAF) is currently writing the definitions which the other services plan to adopt, he says. Ed Sujecki provided insights into areas where the Program Executive Office USC/LCS wants help from industry. He is assistant programme manager for specialised mission modules in the US Navy organisation, responsible for uncrewed, small combatants and the Littoral Combat Ship. The key mission areas are mine countermeasures (MCM) and surface warfare. Industry can help with managing the burgeoning amounts of data generated by the uncrewed systems. “How can we leverage machine learning and AI to cut down the workload of our operators to make sure they’re only focused on the areas they need to?” Sujecki asks. Both mine countermeasures and surface warfare missions are conducted by multiple cooperating platforms, and they rely on many communication links, and Sujecki emphasised the need to make them much more robust and secure. “How do we make sure we have those comm links there?” he asks. “How do we operate if we’re in a degraded comms situation/non-comms situation, and everywhere there is an open comms interface that is an avenue for our adversary? So how do we make sure all our systems are cyber-survivable and have the appropriate level of cyber security?” The Navy regards the medium USV (MUSV) as a modular ‘truck’, able to do many jobs, and it is looking for vendors who can help integrate a range of different autonomy engines into it. The organisation is also looking to work with companies who are “pushing the limits” of situational awareness, particularly with small formfactor systems that can fit a 38 ft craft. As well as acquiring more MUSVs to meet an eventual target fleet size of 48, the PEO wants more MCM-related payloads. “We are looking at the Barracuda Xponential 2024 military | Show report Uncrewed Systems Technology | August/September 2024 The vehicle-mounted EAGLS counter-UAS system combines radar and electro-optical sensors and laserguided rockets (Image courtesy of MSI Defense) Apex is building on its composites manufacturing expertise, looking for snap-cure resins to speed production and advanced structural foams (Image courtesy of Apex Space & Defense Systems)
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