The Navy has formally announced that it is creating a new robotics job — referred to as a rating — aimed specifically at operating drones and other autonomous vehicles as service leaders tout the technology as the future of warfare.
The new rating is called robotics warfare specialist and “will accelerate development of deep expertise in rapidly advancing autonomous technologies,” the Navy said in an administrative message released Thursday.
The news comes just over a week after the Navy's top officer, Adm. Lisa Franchetti, previewed the move at a naval conference in San Diego.
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The new robotics specialists will initially come from sailors who are already aerial or underwater drone operators, largely concentrated in the undersea and special warfare communities, according to the website for the new rating.
Lt. Meagan Morrison, a spokeswoman for the chief of naval personnel, told Military.com that sailors who have gone to schools for unmanned undersea vehicle operations of the MK 18 Mod 2 “Kingfish” undersea mine hunting drone, as well as the ScanEagle, Puma, Integrator and MQ-4 Triton aerial drones, will make up the initial cohort of new robotics warfare specialists.
The message released by the Navy noted that, while “all active-duty ratings are open for conversion” to the new job, “it is important to note that this will initially be a…
