Posted on 02/19/2019 11:07:58 AM PST by blam
The Navy is bulking up its fleet of autonomous robot vessels with the purchase of a cadre of four of Boeing's extremely large and incredibly grandiose unmanned Orca submarines.
On Feb. 13, the Navy awarded Boeing a $43 million contract to produce four of the 51-foot Orca Extra Large Unmanned Undersea Vehicles (XLUUVs) that are capable of traveling some 6,500 nautical miles unaided, the US Naval Institute reported.
According to USNI, the Navy could potentially deploy the Orcas from existing vessels to conduct "mine countermeasures, anti-submarine warfare, anti-surface warfare, electronic warfare and strike missions."
But as Popular Mechanics points out, the Orca's modular design and relatively inexpensive price tag make the robo-subs a potential game-changer for a Navy that's struggling to grow to 335 hulls:
Orca could even pack a Mk. 46 lightweight torpedo to take a shot at an enemy sub itself. It could also carry heavier Mk. 48 heavyweight torpedoes to attack surface ships, or even conceivably anti-ship missiles. Orca could drop off cargos on the seabed, detect, or even lay mines. The modular hardware payload system and open architecture software ensures Orca could be rapidly configured based on need.
This sort of versatility in a single, low-cost package is fairly unheard of in military spending. The nearest rough equivalent is the Navy's Littoral Combat Ship, which costs $584 million each and has a crew of 40. While LCS is faster, has the benefit of an onboard crew, and carries a larger payload, Orca is autonomous—and cheaper by orders of magnitude.
The purchase comes amid a push into autonomous vessels for the Navy, and not just because of President Donald Trump's newfound focus on artificial intelligence.
An Echo Voyager fully autonomous extra large unmanned undersea vehicle (XLUUV) class UUV. Boeing
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(Excerpt) Read more at businessinsider.com ...
I am impressed!
Unmanned ships and planes are the future of warfare. Robots and automation don’t need to be fed or trained and can easily be replaced when they die.
Launch a Predator from an ORCA!
or
Ninjas,
Or,,,
A fleet of automatous submarines each capable of launching Trident missiles could stay on station at extreme depths for extended periods of time.
I’m predicting that within a couple of years one of these will be “snatched” and attempted to be taken to either China or Russia.
Smuggle drugs for the cartels.
Me too
This will cause admirals all over the world to worry
Catch that rascal in a trawl net and it will be a real rodeo.
Since the Navy can’t afford to have starboard and port watches manned by sailors, this may be a good plan.
Place it on the tail of the new Iranian submarine with a constant pinging. that should drive them nuts...
I always wondered how they controlled these things. Radio doesn’t travel well through water.
For the most part, bots and drones will be the way to go for duking it out.
That’s why it’s autonomous.
It just does what it feels like.
Especially US ones.
ELF?
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