APRIL 17, 2025 – In recent years, Soldiers have increasingly turned to unmanned equipment as a vital component of their operations. The advantages of these systems have become more pronounced as technology continues to evolve. Unmanned vessels have been shown to help reduce risk to personnel, enhance operational efficiency, and improve mission capabilities. Project Convergence Capstone 5 (PC-C5) assessed the applicability and benefits of Unmanned Surface Vessels (USV) in the Army’s maritime community.
Scenario B of PC-C5, which took place in April 2025 at locations throughout the INDOPACOM area, was the latest iteration of Army Futures Command’s top experimentation event, aimed at transforming how Joint forces fight in the future.
“This event allows us to have the ability to see how autonomous systems on the water interact with each other – also, giving us a chance to understand how we command and control this type of technology going into the future,” said Col. William “Will” C. Arnold, chief of transportation, Combined Arms Support Command.
PC-C5 experimented with the advantages of unmanned vessels in their ability to conduct operations without putting personnel at risk. This capability assists military leaders in making decisions with the assurance that Soldiers’ lives are not unnecessarily endangered.
“This will allow me to develop a strategy that incorporates future autonomous watercraft into the fleet mix of capabilities that we have for our forces, allowing service members to see all the vessels that are operating on watercraft in the area of responsibility,” Arnold said. “It also provides the ability to allow longer missions for current and future fleets to where we don’t have to maintain crew rest, and we can use autonomous capabilities to drive the boats.”
Compared to older fleet vessels, which are majority analog, USVs have the capacity to be remotely controlled by personnel.
“Our old vessels do not have a lot of digital backbone; with this technology, it will contribute to the capabilities to integrate advanced sensors and communication systems to gather real-time intelligence and relay information back to command centers,” Arnold said. “Furthermore, the integration of artificial intelligence and machine learning algorithms in unmanned vessels improves their autonomous capabilities, allowing them to adapt to changing circumstances and execute missions with greater precision – which can all be done from the other side of the world.”
In addition, the process to learn and use the USVs was straightforward, making it practical for Soldiers to effectively operate and maintain these systems.
“The training itself was very simple,” said Spc. Luke Ferguson, diver, assigned to 569th Dive Detachment, 130th Engineer Brigade. “I understood the system’s functions by the second day, including how to track it, communicate with it, and manually control it when necessary.”
The purpose of PC-C5 is to provide the opportunity for Multinational allies and Joint partners to integrate people, equipment, and technologies to support continuous transformation efforts aimed at aggressively shaping how future warfighters operate in fast-paced, high-tech, and multi-domain environments.
“If we can integrate this technology into our equipment, it would significantly streamline our operations,” Ferguson concluded. “The reduced manpower required for setup and ensuring the area’s safety would allow us to operate more efficiently and focus on our
core tasks.”
Story by Sgt. Kelvin Johnson
40th Public Affairs Detachment