[Llarry]

The U.S. Navy has just concluded a five-month deployment of unmanned surface vessels (USVs) in the Pacific. The small "ghost fleet" consisted of four USVs: 2 large and 2 medium. Apparently, they are all crewed when entering or exiting port and the large ones have accommodations on board for crew members. (But operated the vast majority of the time without a crew.)

None of these USVs are armed, although tests have been conducted with the launch of missiles. The USVs are in the early experimental stage. One function might be to trail an enemy submarine over a long distance.

During the deployment, the vessels exercised with regular manned vessels of the U.S. and foreign navies and made port visits in Japan, Australia and a number of Pacific islands.

The first photo is of two of the large USVs, while the second is of a medium USV.