The U.S. Navy and Republic of Korea (ROK) Navy successfully held a live-fire exercise using a common unmanned surface vessel (CUSV) during Exercise Rim of the Pacific (RIMPAC) 2024, July 12. The CUSV, equipped with six Poniard rockets, successfully engaged a target.
The exercise, a part of the ongoing RIMPAC 2024 operations around the Hawaiian Islands, served as a platform for testing the operational capabilities of the CUSV as a high-value unit escort. “With unmanned vehicles, Sailors are able to stay out of harm’s way and we can use unmanned craft to carry out a mission from relative safety,” said Lt. Cmdr. Janet VonEiff, the U.S. 3rd Fleet’s experimentation officer who leads the experimentation working group for RIMPAC.
The CUSV was launched from the ROK tank landing ship ROKS Cheon Ja Bong (LST-687). The event also featured an unmanned aerial vehicle that provided aerial targeting information and visual confirmation, allowing the CUSV to fire its rockets at an afloat target. The UAV also performed battle damage assessments.
The live-fire exercise is part of the U.S. Navy’s experimentation program to evaluate the capabilities of the Poniard weapon system for potential adoption by the fleet.
Both navies established high-level unmanned scenarios for the exercise, which included unmanned detection, tracking, and analysis of unmanned targets, as well as the launch of guided rockets from CUSV. The exercise marked 100% system accuracy with all rockets hitting their intended targets.
Lt. Cmdr. VonEiff emphasized the importance of international collaboration in these trials. “It’s good for us to see what they are working on and for them to see what we are working on, and we can further advance our capabilities through diverse thinking,” she said. “We are always looking for partner nations to join in on the experimentation front.”
Twenty-nine nations, 40 surface ships, three submarines, 14 national land forces, more than 150 aircraft and 25,000 personnel are participating in RIMPAC in and around the Hawaiian Islands, June 27 to Aug. 1. The world’s largest international maritime exercise, RIMPAC provides a unique training opportunity while fostering and sustaining cooperative relationships among participants critical to ensuring the safety of sea lanes and security on the world’s oceans. RIMPAC 2024 is the 29th exercise in the series that began in 1971.
