Navy May Create Experimental Squadron - Defensetech: As the Navy aims to make its ships more deadly and experiments with a host of new technologies, ranging from railguns to laser weapons, the service’s top surface warfare officer said he wants to create an experimental squadron devoted to exploring the art of the possible.
Vice Adm. Thomas Rowden, commander of Naval Surface Forces, said he is eyeing the prospect of launching an experimental squadron as a platform for increased technology testing and demonstrations.
Speaking to reporters at the Surface Navy Association’s annual symposium Thursday, Rowden said he wants to base the prospective squadron at the Naval Surface and Mine Warfare Development Center in San Diego, potentially placing it under the center’s command structure.
“We’ve got a tremendous number of fabulous young men and women that are being trained as warfare tactics instructors in that organization, and I think [we can leverage] their talents, their ideas as we look for opportunities to bring not only different platforms into the Navy, but leveraging in different ways the ships that we have right now,” Rowden said.
