Sea-Air-Space Conference Wire 3: The Next Drone-Using Fleet

Day 2 of the Navy League conference brought word that 4th Fleet will join 5th Fleet as a focus of the Navy's experiments with unmanned craft.

Less than two years since 5th Fleet's Task Force 59 stood up in the Persian Gulf, the Navy has announced where its next major locus of experimentation with unmanned craft will be: 4th Fleet, aka the naval component of U.S. Southern Command. UAVs and robot surface craft will be put to work against drug smugglers and illegal fishing efforts, Navy officials said on Day 2 of the Navy League's Sea-Air-Space conference outside Washington, D.C. Caitlin M. Kenney has that, and more, here.