Integrating unmanned surface vessels into daily maritime operations in the Red Sea was the goal of Digital Shield, a U.S. 5th Fleet exercise with Israeli Defense Forces that just ended in the Gulf of Aqaba. U.S. 5th Fleet spokesman Cmdr. Tim Hawkins told Inside Defense the purpose of the exercise -- which fielded MARTAC’s Devil Ray T-38 and the Saildrone Explorer -- was not to test and evaluate the applications but to demonstrate the capabilities of hybrid forces at...
