US Navy photo by Mass Communication Specialist 3rd Class Pasquale Sena
Members of the visit, board, search and seizure (VBSS) team operate a rigid-hull inflatable boat (RHIB) alongside guided-missile destroyer USS Gonzalez.
After more than a decade of research and development, the US Navy stands on the edge of a paradigm shift.
A recent report from the Congressional Research Service puts these technologies in perspective:
"Any one of these new weapon technologies, if successfully developed and deployed, might be regarded as a "game changer' for defending Navy surface ships against enemy missiles. If two or three of them are successfully developed and deployed, the result might be considered not just a game changer, but a revolution. "
In the slides below, see where the US Navy is at in fielding these revolutionary technologies, and how they will change the future of naval warfare.