A Flexrotor long-range robotic aircraft launches from the flight deck of the guided-missile destroyer USS McFaul during flight operations in the Gulf of Oman on July 23, 2023. (Juel Foster/U.S. Navy)

The Navy on Thursday introduced a new enlisted specialty for sailors to operate and maintain current and future unmanned robotic weapons and vehicles.

The Navy established the new robotics warfare, or RW, rating for active-duty sailors who would be charged with planning and controlling robotic systems, which the service considers crucial to future warfighting, according to a Navy announcement Thursday. The message described the new specialty’s founding as a “major milestone” in the service’s work toward building a hybrid fleet of complementary manned and unmanned vessels and aircraft.

“This dedicated robotics rating will accelerate development of deep expertise in rapidly advancing autonomous technologies,” the message reads.

Service officials said it was not yet clear how many sailors would serve in the RW rating. The Navy said it would start as “a small and highly selective rating.”

Though the new specialty will be open to all sailors ranked E-4 to E-9, the Navy announcement said most chosen for the new job would come with experience in unmanned vehicle divisions who have established robotics skills.

Those chosen for RW will join the new specialty after their current assignment is completed or when their current billet is converted to RW, according to a Navy fact sheet about the new specialty.

The Naval Education and Training Command is working to establish a training pipeline for future RW sailors, according to the fact sheet. The service expects to begin training recruits to serve as robotics warfare sailors by 2026.

The service intends to open the specialty up to Navy reservists at some time in the future, officials said.

Those seeking to join the RW community should submit applications through the Navy’s Career Waypoints, or C-WAY, system as soon as possible because “applications will be processed as they are received,” according to the service.