John Phelan: “Today, there is no policy decision classifying them as…”

“Medium unmanned service vessels are becoming the strategic lay down trucks of the fleet. They are modular, they're scalable, they are payload agnostic. They can scout, they can screen, they can sustain, they can strike. Strike. Today, there is no policy decision classifying them as combatants. They are designated as other combatants, which gives us the flexibility to experiment, iterate and learn at speed. We are moving faster than we traditionally do. This is not just force strike, it is culture. Our most talented junior officers want these billets.” (34:02–34:17)

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