The US Navy operates a handful of fixed-wing and rotary drones, but has kept them in support roles, avoiding a wholesale replacement of its manned forces.

The US Navy is quietly integrating drone platforms. With naval warfare increasingly defined by distance, surveillance, and persistence, drones can solve problems that ships and manned aircraft struggle with—chiefly endurance and risk tolerance.

While the Navy has pivoted toward drones more conservatively than the Air Force, and lacks a compelling equivalent to the latter’s “Collaborative Combat Aircraft” program, the Navy has still made drones central to ISR, logistics, and targeting—reflecting a shift towards distributed maritime operations.

Which Drones Is the US Navy Currently Using?

The Navy’s current lineup of drone platforms yields insights into the service’s future direction.

• The MQ-25 Stingray is a carrier-based unmanned aircraft designed for aerial refueling. With a 500-mile-plus range, and a payload of 15,000 pounds of fuel, the MQ-25 can extend a carrier air wing’s reach while freeing up manned fighters from tanker duty. Notably, the MQ-25 was the first operational Navy drone integrated with carriers, undoubtedly, a harbinger of things to come. 
• The MQ-4C Triton is a high-altitude, long-endurance maritime ISR drone, a nasalized version of the Global Hawk. With 24-hour-plus endurance, and an altitude of 50,000-feet-plus, the MQ-4C provides wide-area ocean surveillance that is especially designed to complement the P-8 Poseidon maritime patrol aircraft. 
• The MQ-8 Fire Scout is a rotary-wing unmanned helicopter that operates from smaller surface combatants. Capable of staying aloft for eight-hours-plus, the MQ-8 is used for ISR, targeting, and over-the-horizon awareness. 

The Navy’s current unmanned lineup has honored lessons learned from earlier platforms, like the X-47B, which demonstrated the value of autonomous deck operations and carrier launch and recovery. The X-47B program was canceled before operational fielding, but not before it had revealed the technical feasibility of drones. Still, the Navy reacted to the new tech with hesitation, opting for the more conservative MQ-25.

How the US Navy Uses Its Drones

Today, the Navy uses drones primarily for the support of, rather than the replacement of, manned forces (although that may begin to gradually shift). Drones conduct persistent ISR, target cueing, and communications relayed. Drones offer extended sensor reach beyond the shipboard radar and manned aircraft. In effect, drones enable earlier detection and better targeting while reducing risk to pilots in contested environments. But the Navy continues to emphasize human-in-the-loop control.

Strategically, drone use is important as the US pivots towards the Indo-Pacific, a region defined by vast distances and China’s A2/AD threats. Drones support distributed maritime operations and kill-chain resilience, which enables wider sensor coverage and fewer high-value assets exposed. Drones also serve to complicate adversary targeting, through saturation, which is expected to be crucial to puncturing the A2/AD veil. 

Expect the Navy’s drone trend to accelerate as drone systems show improvements in autonomy, secure communications, and sensor fusion—and as the Navy places a greater emphasis on networked operations and data-sharing across platforms.

Of course, survivability is still a concern. The drones in the Navy inventory are not stealth, making the easy targets within the A2/AD network. Regardless, drone use will likely expand into unmanned surface vessels and unmanned undersea vehicles, with more drones embedded directly into fleet operations. Potential future roles include strike, ASW support, and electronic warfare, with the Navy moving toward mixed manned-unmanned teams. 

About the Author: Harrison Kass

Harrison Kass is a senior defense and national security writer at The National Interest. Kass is an attorney and former political candidate who joined the US Air Force as a pilot trainee before being medically discharged. He focuses on military strategy, aerospace, and global security affairs. He holds a JD from the University of Oregon and a master’s in Global Journalism and International Relations from NYU.

Image: Shutterstock / Michael Fitzsimmons.

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