Interceptor drones and uncrewed task groups

What do Coyote and Roadrunner interceptor drones on Burke-class destroyers suggest about future fleets?

Crewed ships will anchor mixed uncrewed task groups, while expanding missions will drive drone cost and complexity upward.

Crewed warships are likely to become the centers of task groups containing uncrewed air, surface, and undersea assets. Coyote and Roadrunner illustrate the first stage, with drones used to intercept other drones. Designers will then add guns, lasers, missile-defense tasks, and eventually the ability to engage crewed aircraft at greater ranges. That is the familiar pattern of mission creep: an initially cheap system becomes larger, more capable, more complex, and more expensive. Distributed naval forces may therefore gain useful new assets whose cost rises as their missions expand.