Since the program’s initial inception, the intended mission and required capabilities for UCLASS have come into question, and are currently mired in Congressional debate about whether the role of the UCLASS should be primarily surveillance, with limited strike capability, operating in less contested environments, or primarily a largely strike role, with limited surveillance capability, operating in highly contested environments. These debates have resulted in a delay of the Navy’s UCLASS schedule by approximately 3 years for the award of a contract, and by approximately 2 years for operational capability (Government Accountability Office, 2015, p. 4; Gertler, 2015, p.
