MARTAC Devil Ray T-38 USV Tests Boat Swarm Defense using Aerovironment Switchblade Kamikaze Drones

Tests involving a Switchblade-armed MARTAC Devil Ray T38 uncrewed surface vessel (USV) took place in the Persian Gulf in late October. A U.S. Navy drone speedboat armed with Switchblade 300 loitering munitions was able to successfully destroy multiple mock targets at sea. The Aerovironment Switchblade is a small loitering munition often referred to as a kamikaze drone. It has a 4-pound high-explosive warhead, a maximum range of 10 kilometers (6+ miles) and can fly for around 15 minutes. A combination like this could provide close-in protection against swarms of small crewed and uncrewed boats. As reported by Thedrive.com, this was part of a large exercise nicknamed Digital Talon, led by the Navy's Task Force 59. Established in 2021, Task Force 59 is a testbed unit that is tasked with experimenting with the integration of new uncrewed and artificial intelligence (AI) capabilities into day-to-day naval operations across the Middle East. It also offers the Navy a means to explore how it might operationalize those technologies more broadly.

Special Operations Forces Central Command, the U.S. military's top special operations command in the Middle East, also helped coordinate this test. The Switchblade 300 has been in active use by American special operators for years now. For this particular test, the T38 was equipped with a small, portable six-round launcher loaded with Switchblade 300s, which the U.S. military officially calls the Lethal Miniature Aerial Missile System (LMAMS). Watch a video, here. Pictures and video from the test do show that the USV was equipped with what appears to be a SpaceX Starlink satellite communications antenna, as well as a small commercial navigation radar and electro-optical/infrared camera turrets. See also our 2022 news update with more details on the T-38 unmanned surface vessel (USV). Images courtesy of Thedrive.com/the-war-zone, USN, USMC, MARTAC and Aerovironment.

Photos:
1. The test involving the Switchblade-armed MARTAC Devil Ray T38 uncrewed surface vessel (USV) took place in the Persian Gulf in late October, 2023. This was part of a large exercise, nicknamed Digital Talon, led by the Navy's Task Force 59
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2. A picture of the T38 USV used during recent tests with the Switchblade launcher, painted tan, visible at the rear.

3. MARTAC T-38.

4. A competing combat USV, the Marine Long Range Unmanned Surface Vessel (LRUSV), is a drone boat equipped with a Uvisionuav multi-round launcher for Hero-120 loitering munitions. Courtesy USMC.  For details, visit https://uvisionuav.com.

5. Still image from a video captured by a Task Force 59 USV showing two Iranian fast attack boats. USN