U.S. Navy Secretary Ray Mabus on Thursday defended his drive to consolidate the Navy's work on a range of unmanned systems, and said the U.S. military risked losing its leadership role unless it focused on what he called "the future of warfare."
"Unmanned is the future," Mabus said in a speech at the National Press Club. "If we don't keep up in this, if we don't lead on this, we're very certainly going to be bypassed ... because we're not the only ones working on this."
Mabus this month announced plans to name a new civilian deputy assistant secretary to oversee underwater, surface and aerial unmanned systems, and to create a new office on the uniformed military side of the Navy to coordinate and "champion" all aspects of the new weapons systems across the service.
Mabus said he stood by his recent comment that the F-35 fighter jet developed by Lockheed Martin Corp "should be, and almost certainly will be, the last manned strike fighter aircraft the Department of the Navy will ever buy or fly."
The remark drew criticism from pilots across the military.
Focusing on unmanned systems would allow the Navy to reach more places, stay there longer, carry out more dangerous missions, and better protect the lives of its people than continuing to rely on manned fighter jets, manned minehunters and other weapons, Mabus said.
New technology included on the F-35 fighter plane worked so fast the pilots already were not involved, he said.
He noted a recent test of the unmanned X-47B aircraft built by Northrop Grumman Corp, which showed the drone could be refueled at sea.
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