Navy Conducts Advanced Undersea Warfare Training

The U.S. Navy launched exercise Black Widow 2025 in the Hawaii Operating Area on March 4, 2025, to enhance undersea warfare (USW) training. The exercise simulates real-world combat scenarios where submarines, surface ships, and aircraft collaborate to detect, track, and engage a simulated adversary submarine. Training focuses on refining multi-domain coordination, improving command and control under a theater undersea warfare (TUSW) construct, and testing new tactics developed by the Undersea Warfighting Development Center.

Throughout the exercise, units will conduct localized search and tracking operations, progressing to more complex engagement scenarios. The Arleigh Burke-class guided-missile destroyers USS Frank E. Petersen Jr. and USS Michael Murphy, Virginia-class fast-attack submarines USS Mississippi and USS Montana, P-8A Poseidon aircraft, and MH-60R Sea Hawk helicopters will work together to integrate air, surface, and undersea operations.

By simulating realistic threats, Black Widow 2025 ensures that Navy forces maintain combat readiness and interoperability, strengthening their ability to operate in high-threat maritime environments across the Indo-Pacific.