U.S. Plans Crewless Anti Submarine Warfare Ships
February 3rd, 2010Via: Register:
Those splendid brainboxes at DARPA – the Pentagon’s in-house bazaar of the bizarre – have outdone themselves this time. They now plan an entirely uncrewed, automated ghost frigate able to cruise the oceans of the world for months or years on end without human input.
The new project is called Anti-submarine warfare Continuous Trail Unmanned Vessel (ACTUV), and is intended to produce “an X-ship founded on the assumption that no person steps aboard at any point in its operating cycle”. The uncrewed frigate would have enough range and endurance for “global, months long deployments with no underway human maintenance”, being able to cross oceans largely without any human input – communications back to base would be “intermittent”, according to DARPA.
In particular, the automated warship would need to avoid crashing into other vessels as it prowled the seas on the business of the US government, a function normally performed by bridge watchkeeping officers. DARPA specifies that the ACTUV must be able to conduct “safe navigation at sea within the framework of maritime law” – that is the International Rules for Prevention of Collisions at Sea, aka “Rule of the Road”, which Royal Navy officers have to memorise almost word-perfect.
Then, while weaving in and out of other ships, the crewless frigate must be able to stay on the trail of a well-nigh silent diesel-electric submarine running beneath the waves. Such subs are operated – albeit in small numbers – by various minor powers around the world, and are considered by some in the major navies to be a very serious threat.
DARPA’s idea would be that every time such a sub put to sea or was otherwise at a known location, an ACTUV would be put onto its tail – freeing up hugely expensive manned ships and subs from routine shadowing work. The thinking is that following such a submarine is fairly easily done compared to finding it in the first place.
