Whenever military posts and debates have occurred here my co-blogger, Rossco, has pushed for drones vs warships or fighter jets.
As such he will be pleased by this news out of the USA, courtesy of Cdr Salamander:
Salamander quotes some key points about this ship:
Serco launched the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency’s No Manning Required Ship program medium unmanned surface vessel prototype, USX-1 Defiant, at its Washington shipyard last month in preparation for a series of trials that aim to bring a cost-effective USV to the U.S. Navy.
From the design’s outset, the 180-foot-long, 240-ton vessel was designed without considering human habitation or protection features. According to DARPA, the NOMARS program “intends to demonstrate significant advantages,” including at-sea reliability, hydrodynamic efficiency, and stealthy features.
…
the program’s key features include a 90% reliability at sea for a year and an autonomous refueling capability. USVs Mariner and Ranger demonstrated SERCO’s refueling capability in a test last September.
…
The Adaptable Deck Launching System, or ADL, meets the need for a fixed angle, low elevation, deck-mounted ship defense launching system (SDLS) for near-term application onboard U.S. Navy and allied ships.
Not bad! Salamander lists some of the advantages if this thing pans out:
- That ADL can launch a lot of different missiles and warheads (see the link for his table listing eleven including Tomahawk, Harpoon, SeaSparrow, SM2, SM3, SM6, Mk54 Torpedo).
- “Can I drag a towed array sonar on this thing in conjunction with the ISO container on the stern? If so, you can go ahead and fill those two cells with the Vertical Launched ASROC with a MK-54 torp on the end. Have 4-6 working far ahead of the Strike Group…and now you have my full and undivided attention.“
- Can be built in very large numbers across Tier-3 shipyards without much improved infrastructure, which is rather like what navies have done in the past in crudely converting merchant ships to naval by adding guns and other weapon systems to make up the numbers in a war. This is superior but using the same shipyards.
No Minister 
Large drone warships fill me with concern.
If, like predator drones, they are run from a secure location back ashore then the possibility of the comms link being:
1/ disrupted rendering the vessel inoperable at critical times or
2/ comms link being hacked leaving the vessel in an adversaries control;
well neither of those is a great scenario
Scenario 2 also leaves open the possibility of a friend being attack by one of your vessels under adversary control which would create real havoc in alliances
Drones and robot soldiers seem awesome as human life is removed from danger in terms of military personnel. But these devices being hacked and being turned on your own troops, civilian populace or those of your allies is nightmarish