Navy Has High Hopes for Robotic Ships ROBOTICS AND AUTONOMOUS SYSTEMS 2/26/2021 Boeing illustration The Navy is keen to integrate large unmanned vessels into the fleet in coming decades. But there remains a great deal of uncertainty about how much of the total force will be robotic as political, budgetary, operational and industrial considerations complicate the calculus. Chief of Naval Operations Adm. Michael Gilday in his “CNO Navigation Plan” said these types of vessels will play a vital role in the future. “Successfully integrating unmanned platforms … gives our commanders better options to fight and win in contested spaces,” he said in the guidance, which was released in January. “They will expand our intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance advantage, add depth to our missile magazines, and provide additional means to keep our distributed force provisioned.”