Sea Hunter,’ a drone ship with no crew, just joined the U.S. Navy fleet

Ohhhhhh automation will never happen! TOOOOOOOO LATEEEEE!

Been here for over a century they are called machines, they are just now finally becoming more proficient at accomplishing more commonly thought of as human task.

Digital Trends

A prototype autonomous ship known as the Medium Displacement Unmanned Surface Vehicle (MDUSV) has officially been transferred to the U.S. Navy from the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) after a two-year testing and evaluation program. Named “Sea Hunter,” the Office of Naval Research will continue to develop the vessel from this point forward.

Although there’s no specific timetable for when the Sea Hunter would join active naval operations, the statement from DARPA indicated that it could happen as early as this year. The anti-submarine warfare vessel could be the first of an entirely new class of warship.

So another DARPA project, from the team that brought you the internet!!!

I wonder what the long term goals of having a semi autonomous fleet will be? Have machines largely replace special warfare operations to an extent already?

a reply to: toysforadults

It's a lot easier to program a search area and let it go do its thing, than to have to find a large number of operators to pilot them remotely. Finding operators isn't easy.

As for possibly joining the fleet this year, if the Navy performance with the UCLASS is any indication, this thing will join the fleet in a few years with a totally different mission.

originally posted by: toysforadults
Have machines largely replace special warfare operations to an extent already?

Uh, no. That takes men with guts and muscles still, e.g. SEALS, Rangers, Airborne, Mountain Division, etc.

P.S. Gotta love that pilot house on the drone ship.

a ship with no crew sounds like a great target for scrappers, or just about any foreign government to hijack.

a reply to: schuyler

Actually I'm pretty sure that drones are doing the job of spec ops already just not the entire job of spec ops.

a reply to: Zaphod58

this thing will join the fleet in a few years with a totally different mission.

Oh I would be interested in hearing more.

originally posted by: schuyler

originally posted by: toysforadults
Have machines largely replace special warfare operations to an extent already?

P.S. Gotta love that pilot house on the drone ship.

The robots sit in there so they can see out real good

a reply to: toysforadults

Thats a dangerous thing to stick on the end of a remote control leash.

I dont know how I feel about it.

a reply to: toysforadults

Function over form looks silly IMHO. Wonder what the cost of the ship is, and what the non allies of the US are going to have to build to match it.

I just read that this was built and christened right here in Portland OR where I live.

Thats what I get for ignoring the MSM...

The military's new made-in-Oregon drone ship, designed to spend months at sea without any human crew, could be spotted in recent weeks cruising the Willamette and Columbia rivers, occasionally spending time at a highly visible dock near Tilikum Crossing.

But after a christening ceremony Thursday morning, Sea Hunter will set sail for San Diego for two years of sea trials to see whether it can live up to the dream of a completely unmanned naval ship.

The $23 million ship is intended to track other nations' diesel-powered submarines for months at a time with minimal human intervention. It will use onboard sensors to detect and avoid other vessels, and its onboard computer will make maneuvering decisions in accordance with maritime law.

"We didn't want a remote-control vessel," said Scott Littlefield, the project manager for DARPA. "We actually wanted something that could behave appropriately and do complicated missions under what we call 'sparse human control.'"

www.oregonlive.com...

a reply to: toysforadults

I don't know that it will, but the last unmanned program the Navy did was for the UCLASS, Unmanned Carrier Launched Airborne Surveillance and Strike. It began life as a very low observable, penetrating strike aircraft.

Then the Navy announced they were reducing the strike requirement, and concentrating more on the reconnaissance mission.

Then they announced they were reducing the VLO and range requirements, and basically turning it into something like the Predator, but launched from a carrier.

Then they were looking for an ISR/Strike/tanker.

Then it became an ISR/tanker.

Then they renamed it CBARS, for Carrier Based Air Refueling System. And it has to use the existing buddy pod system, which means it will drop almost all of the stealth capability. They also dropped almost all of the ISR capability, and simply put a camera system requirement to search for ships on the way to and from the carrier.

The Navy doesn't want unmanned systems and generally fights them tooth and nail. There's no reason to think this will be any different.

a reply to: lordcomac

They're not going to be out by themselves. You don't do ASW with solo platforms.

originally posted by: lordcomac
a ship with no crew sounds like a great target for scrappers, or just about any foreign government to hijack.

They already try to steal towed sonar arrays. Why not a whole ship?

I actually got to see ACTUV/"Sea Hunter" in early October out at Scripps (Point Loma near the sub base) just before Fleet Week.

a reply to: toysforadults

Imagine what you could do with the budget for one carrier battle group and create a drone carrier task force. You could probably field 500 drones if not more.

Drones are the future of naval flying.

a reply to: pavil

And are nowhere near ready. They can't do air to air, they can't carry the kind of payloads that you canfit on manned aircraft yet, and other issues.

That's going to capsize.

Billion dollar waste.

The sides will rip completely off in high seas. Watch.

originally posted by: Zaphod58
a reply to: pavil

And are nowhere near ready. They can't do air to air, they can't carry the kind of payloads that you canfit on manned aircraft yet, and other issues.

Maybe not yet, but within a generation. The cost savings would be enormous.

The article I cited earlier said that it is intended to track diesel-powered submarines for months at a time...

I was a Navy sonar tech stationed on an ASW frigate in the seventy's and we very rarely ever made sonar contact with a sub, I mean I can only remember a couple of times in four years, how is this thing going to maintain contact when a sub can dive below the thermal layer and easily lose a ship in minutes.

Has the technology changed that much over the years?

Any other techs here know what the tech used on board is like now?

The trimaran design lends itself to endurance, sea keeping, and speed, which will be necessary for keeping up with sprinting diesel submarines as well as those that are running slow and quiet for long periods of time.

DARPA's Unmanned Submarine Stalker Could Change Naval Warfare Forever

a reply to: pavil

Of course they would be. But it's not going to shift quickly.