Posted on 02/10/2010 12:47:16 AM PST by 2ndDivisionVet
In the U.S. the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) is planning to introduce unmanned frigates for long missions shadowing diesel-electric submarines.
The vessels, dubbed Anti-Submarine Warfare Continuous Trail Unmanned Vessels or ACTUVs, are designed to be unmanned, with only intermittent communication from operators on shore or on a ship, and to require no maintenance for months. They will also obey navigational rules and be able to avoid collisions at sea.
The three main objectives of the program are to build an “X-ship” that operates without anyone stepping aboard at any point in its operating cycle, secondly to demonstrate the technical viability of the system under “sparse remote supervisory control”, and thirdly to demonstrate the anti-submarine capability of the vessel and its “novel suite of sensors”. The ACTUV is unlike other unmanned vessels in that it is designed for global, independent deployment for months at a time.
Proponents claim crewless vessels would save the U.S. Navy money and free the expensive crewed ships from the routine work of continuously cruising the oceans shadowing submarines. The unmanned frigates would locate a submarine by “pinging’ with active sonar to detect the submarine’s echoes, which means those on the submarine would know they have been detected. While nuclear submarines may be fast enough to escape the stalking frigate, fast and quiet diesel-electric submarines would not.
Other unmanned vessels are already in use, with Israel deploying Unmanned Surface Vehicles (USVs), mainly for surveillance purposes, and the U.S. Navy deploying unmanned drones from its submarines.
DARPA is the research and development section of the U.S. Department of Defense, which is charged with the job of maintaining the U.S. military’s technological superiority and avoiding technological surprises that could threaten the nation’s security. It will host an unclassified “Industry Day” conference on the ACTUV program at the Liberty Conference Center in Arlington, Virginia on February 16 to discuss the program and address any questions.
Amazingly stupid sometimes....
There is no such thing as an “unlawful order” to a machine...
Hey! If you can kick ass unmanned in three dimensions, it should be a piece of cake in only two!
Perhaps, but a machine doesn’t need fresh water, food, air conditioning, recreation, laundry services, medical care, pay, vacation and can’t be taken prisoner, drown or be killed by the enemy or disease.
Sounds like a grand idea to me, 2DV.
How do you defend it? That seems like a tougher problem than figuring out how to make it smart enough to move around by itself. Couldn’t the bad guys take it over?
Not an issue with pilotless aircraft.
Great, but can it repair it’s self?
Don't be too proud of this technological terror you've constructed...
What on earth will become of the old traditions? Circuitry is all very well, but how will it cope with rum, sodomy and the lash?
There’s an App for that.
Just imagine if this thing is the size of a ski boat running around actively pinging your behind all day long. I’m sure if you’re the captain of a diesel electric boat you’d just be thrilled with being lashed 24 hours a day for the duration of your cruise.
If nothing else the concept/thought of this has got to be like a terror weapon to submarine captains.
All I see is a rubber boat with remote control to control harbours and fantasies about submarine tracing unmanned frigates - that’s two things beeing apart from each other just a tiny bit.
If there’s technology on board to find and trace modern diesel electric subs you really wouldn’t let it drive around unguarded... not today and not tomorrow - maybe in 20 years.
That would fill your life with a whole bag of suck!
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