On or about Sept. 28, a U.S. littoral combat ship launched four unmanned aerial vehicles and one unmanned surface vessel in a coordinated attack that helped sink the former USS Simpson during the multinational UNITAS 2026 exercise, Fourth Fleet officials confirmed.
The Cooperstown, four UAVs, and one USV
The littoral combat ship Cooperstown launched four aerial drones and a single unmanned surface vessel against the decommissioned Perry-class guided missile frigate USS Simpson, executing three kinetic strikes that put the hull on the bottom, Fourth Fleet officials said. The event capped the weekslong UNITAS 2026 exercise in the Fourth Fleet’s area of the Atlantic Ocean. The Simpson had "until recently" been the last modern U.S. Navy vessel to have sunk an enemy warship, the reporting notes.
Command and coordination from the Maritime Operations Center ashore
Unlike traditional shipboard command of weapons engagements, the drone formation was largely coordinated from shore. "The exercise was primarily commanded from the Maritime Operations Center, MOC, ashore, with some senior staff elements afloat," a Fourth Fleet spokesperson said via email. The spokesperson added that "The Robotics Operations Coordinator was part of the element ashore at the MOC, monitoring the status of each [automated unmanned system] and event serials in which they participated."
The operation also included anti-submarine warfare testing: "We also conducted coordinated anti-submarine warfare against a diesel submarine using long-dwell USVs with acoustic capability," the spokesperson said, indicating the exercise layered unmanned surface assets into undersea sensing and action chains.
Deployable data center, AI, and maritime domain awareness tested aboard Cooperstown
The Cooperstown carried a "deployable data center" (DDC) provided by Armada that was moved from Mayport to Norfolk and then put aboard the ship. The DDC included artificial intelligence, machine-learning capabilities, computer vision, and maritime domain awareness technologies — the first at-sea test of that product, according to the Navy spokesperson.
Operational conditions were imperfect: logistics delays and an incoming hurricane limited how much exercise data the devices could process. Still, the Navy called the trial "an excellent proof of concept," noting that "the team engineered electrical and data connectivity in record time, and the ship transported the DDC on the next leg of its deployment, providing edge computing power at sea."
During the exercise a medium-sized Group 3 UAV launched from the "robotic and autonomous systems" mothership collected imagery of "more than 20" naval vessels in close formation. "The traffic density helped train and improve the AI model significantly more quickly than multiple individual flights in less complex environments," the spokesperson said.
Operational lessons: mothership success, connectivity gaps, and a robotics lead
The Navy described the robotic mothership concept as a success in areas such as pre-planning, battery power provisioning, and hangar-space management. At the same time, the service identified shortcomings that it will seek to correct: greater shipboard connectivity, resolution of a suspected communications interference issue that temporarily paused UAV flights, and the absence of an onboard robotics specialist.
"For future mothership deployments, a dedicated robotics officer in charge or liaison could be beneficial," the Fourth Fleet spokesperson said. The Navy also noted safety tradeoffs: UAV flights were curtailed at times "to maintain safety of flight" because of ship maneuvering, manned aircraft activity, gunnery exercises, and competing demands for flight deck space.
What this means for policymakers, technologists, and naval operators
- Policymakers and procurement leaders: Lawmakers have proposed $10 million for "deployable data centers that deliver remote and resilient edge computing" under Navy experiments and demonstrations in a draft 2027 defense policy bill, tying budget language directly to the type of at-sea testing described.
- Technologists and security teams: The exercise provided unique, high-density imagery for training AI targeting models — an unusual dataset captured by a Group 3 UAV that saw "more than 20" ships in close formation — but also exposed engineering and communications constraints that curtailed exploitation of that data.
- Naval operations and ship crews: The Fourth Fleet’s experience points to operational changes such as mandating more comprehensive mission briefs with a ship’s operations staff and assigning an onboard robotics lead to bridge shore-based control and shipboard execution.
The record from UNITAS 2026 shows unmanned systems can now play decisive roles in live-fire scenarios, but also that hardware, connectivity, personnel assignments, and weather can limit how fully those systems are employed. With the Navy calling the mothership concept a success and lawmakers eyeing $10 million for deployable data centers, the immediate question spelled out by the exercise is procedural and concrete: will future deployments carry a designated robotics officer aboard and the ship-to-shore data infrastructure required to turn proof of concept into routine capability?
