SULLIVAN’S ISLAND, S.C. — Naval Information Warfare Center (NIWC) Atlantic recently completed a week of research and communications testing involving unmanned autonomous systems off the coast of Sullivan’s Island in partnership with Indiana-based Naval Surface Warfare Center, Crane Division (NSWC Crane) and U.S. Fleet Forces Command.

Underpinning last month’s event dubbed “Southern Lightning” was the Department of the Navy imperative to develop a future hybrid fleet that integrates manned and unmanned systems across all warfighting domains — land, air and sea.

“Our strong collaboration with NSWC Crane exemplifies the intrinsic value warfare centers bring to the naval research and development establishment,” said Kevin Charlow, NIWC Atlantic acting executive director. “Alongside strong community support on Sullivan’s Island, it was remarkable to see the enthusiasm of our scientists and engineers working hard to envision which technologies might offer our warfighters the most promising capabilities.”

Each year, Sullivan’s Island is the site of the first leg of the two-week Southern Lightning experimentation event. The second week took place at Savannah River National Laboratory in Aiken, South Carolina, where NIWC Atlantic has collaborated with the Department of Energy since 2023.

“Sullivan’s Island has been an important site of American security since the Battle of Sullivan’s Island in 1776, where the British were handed the first major defeat of their naval fleet, mere feet from NIWC Atlantic’s current location,” said Sullivan’s Island Mayor Patrick O’Neil. “We continue to be proud of our connection to our nation’s military preparedness efforts and appreciate NIWC Atlantic’s critical efforts on behalf of our 21st Century defense.

“They are also good neighbors,” O’Neil added, “making sure that the town government and our residents are aware of their activities that might otherwise be cause for curiosity and rumor.”

In addition to a tethered aerostat flying over Charleston Harbor, communications testing during Southern Lightning was facilitated by placing sensors, relays and radios on unmanned aerial, surface and subsurface vehicles.

Making this year different from previous iterations was the presence of a U.S. Navy warship anchored off South Carolina.

U.S. Fleet Forces Command positioned the Arleigh Burke class guided-missile destroyer USS Cole (DDG 67) more than 20 miles off the coast and flew MH-60R helicopters in the area to help Navy engineers evaluate the viability of new USV technologies and concepts in an operational environment.

The South Carolina National Guard also supported communications efforts with AH-64 Apache helicopters.

During the event, unmanned systems owned by industry were launched from the western tip of Sullivan’s Island early in the morning and operated alongside the USS Cole far out at sea. Meanwhile, NIWC Atlantic and NSWC Crane technologists in Southern Lightning’s maritime operations center, or MOC, monitored signals and analyzed endless streams of data.

The MOC operated inside of NIWC Atlantic’s facility on Sullivan’s Island, located in a brick building on a hill next to Fort Moultrie.

In the bigger picture, Southern Lightning is a portion of a series of larger Department of Defense (DoD) experimentations each year called Silent Swarm. Led by NSWC Crane and sponsored by the Office of the Undersecretary of Defense for Research and Engineering, Silent Swarm invites industry to Lake Huron every summer to similarly experiment with early-stage technologies and drones.

Because Sullivan’s Island and NIWC Atlantic are key enablers for Southern Lightning, NSWC Crane was provided an excellent opportunity to experiment with Silent Swarm technology initiatives in a unique, multi-domain environment that included the fleet, said Robert “Ice” Gamberg, Silent Swarm lead and NSWC Crane Fleet Experimentation Lead.

“It brought together teams from across DoD and industry,” he said.

In tandem with Silent Swarm, Southern Lightning has grown into a golden opportunity for NIWC Atlantic, offering the command’s engineers and scientists a chance to hone communications capabilities critical to any future hybrid fleet setting.

“In addition to being a leader in the integration of communication architecture for unmanned systems, NIWC Atlantic provides an environment through our partnership with Sullivan’s Island that not many other warfare centers can offer,” said Cliff Hunt, NIWC Atlantic senior scientific technical manager for assured communications. “In the Lowcountry, we have protected harbors and can provide industry, government innovators and Sailors the unique ability to get out into deep water quickly.”

NIWC Atlantic has routinely conducted testing on Sullivan’s Island in recent years. Navy leaders said military radios used during Southern Lightning did not interfere with other frequencies or electronic communications in the area.

Christian Martin, a NIWC Atlantic engineer who helped lead Southern Lightning, said the MOC and the maritime environment in and around Sullivan’s Island really helps Navy scientists and engineers think outside the box and figure out how the communication architecture in the unmanned arena can be conceived and rapidly developed for the warfighter.

“In a nutshell, everything NIWC Atlantic is involved in centers around assured and resilient communications across all domains, especially the littoral environment,” Martin said. “It is the exceptional community of Sullivan’s Island that has been a key enabler for this, helping us advance critical capabilities to our Sailors and Marines.”

About NSWC Crane
NSWC Crane is a naval laboratory in Crane, Indiana, and a field activity of Naval Sea Systems Command (NAVSEA) with mission areas in Expeditionary Warfare, Strategic Missions and Electronic Warfare. The warfare center is responsible for multi-domain, multi-spectral, full life cycle support of technologies and systems enhancing capability to today’s warfighter.