US defense secretary visits Newport during New England trip

U.S. Defense Secretary Ashton Carter watches an unmanned surface vehicle navigate a course in the bay which he had plotted on a computer at the Naval Undersea Warfare Center Wednesday, May 25, 2016, in Newport, R.I. Carter told students at the nearby U.S. Naval War College in Newport that the government needs to develop technology faster and reconnect with the tech industry. (AP Photo/Jennifer McDermott) (The Associated Press)

U.S. Defense Secretary Ashton Carter comments on the course an unmanned surface vehicle traveled in the bay, which he had plotted on a computer at the Naval Undersea Warfare Center Wednesday, May 25, 2016, in Newport, R.I. Carter told students at the nearby U.S. Naval War College in Newport that the government needs to develop technology faster and reconnect with the tech industry. (AP Photo/Jennifer McDermott) (The Associated Press)

U.S. Defense Secretary Ashton Carter, foreground, uses a computer to set the course for an unmanned surface vehicle in adjacent the bay at Naval Undersea Warfare Center Wednesday, May 25, 2016, in Newport, R.I. Carter told students at the nearby U.S. Naval War College in Newport that the government needs to develop technology faster and reconnect with the tech industry. (AP Photo/Jennifer McDermott) (The Associated Press)

U.S. Defense Secretary Ashton Carter is visiting Rhode Island as part of a multi-day trip to New England to see Navy installations and meet service members.

Carter plans to stop by the U.S. Naval War College and Naval Undersea Warfare Center in Newport on Wednesday.

He's scheduled to give an address and answer students' questions.

Scientists and engineers at the center plan to show Carter the latest in unmanned surface, undersea and air vehicles and other undersea technologies.

Carter previously visited Connecticut.

At Yale University in New Haven on Monday, Carter, a Yale alumnus, awarded commissions to the university's first ROTC graduating class in more than four decades.

On Tuesday in Groton, Carter thanked employees at General Dynamics Electric Boat for building submarines and toured the Naval Submarine Base.