RELIABILITY: Mixed
CNO Adm. Daryl Caudle on Jan. 14, 2026.
US Navy photo ARLINGTON, Va. — New robotic autonomous systems and forward-deployed forces are key to the Navy’s emerging hedge force concept the service is adopting to supplement the tasks of the existing fleet, Chief of Naval Operations Adm. Daryl Caudle said Wednesday.
The hedge force gives the Navy another option beyond the limited menu of formations the sea service can provide combatant commanders. Carrier strike groups and amphibious ready groups with embarked Marine expeditionary units can take more than a year to certify for deployments and on the other end of the spectrum, those high-end formations are often overkill, Caudle said while speaking at the Surface Navy Association’s annual symposium. “What [the] hedge avoids is a brittle single-pu
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