The Ghost Fleet • Can Autonomous US Navy Ships Survive the Strait of Hormuz

As the 48-hour diplomatic deadline looms, the U.S. Navy has deployed its most controversial asset to the Gulf of Oman: Task Force 59’s ‘Ghost Fleet.’ These are Unmanned Surface Vessels, or U-S-Vs, like the Global Ranger. Unlike traditional destroyers, these fifty-foot autonomous boats require no crew, allowing them to linger in high-threat ‘kill zones’ for weeks at a time. Equipped with a modular payload system, the Global Ranger acts as a forward picket for commercial tankers. Its primary mission is ‘Persistent Surveillance,’ using a mast-mounted electro-optical sensor suite to track Iranian fast-attack boats long before they reach the Neutral Corridor. By utilizing U-S-Vs as the first line of defense, the Fifth Fleet can maintain a massive security presence without risking the lives of American sailors in the contested waters of the Strait.

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Credit to : US Navy