The service will need newer, better high-tech drones to help fight future conflicts. When the U.S. Navy’s adversaries have reconnaissance capabilities and firepower to locate and destroy virtually any target, how can it achieve and sustain ocean supremacy? That’s the question facing the U.S. Navy right now, and the answer is very likely to include a large number of unmanned ships, both submersible and on the ocean surface. By September of next year, engineering on navigational capabilities, autonomy and payload deployment for the Orca Extra Large Unmanned Undersea Vehicle (XLUUV) program, a major step toward achieving this superiority, is expected to be completed.