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DARPA turns drone ship development over to the Navy
DARPA has completed its part in the development of Sea Hunter, a submarine-hunting drone ship that can cross the open seas without a human crew for months at a time. It has officially handed over the ship's development to its project partner, the Office of Naval Research, which has already begun fine-tuning the drone's autonomous features. The Navy has also renamed the drone to Medium Displacement Unmanned Surface Vehicle (MDUSV)... which really isn't any better than its old name, Anti-Submarine Warfare Continuous Trail Unmanned Vessel or ACTUV. We've got a feeling people will stick to calling it Sea Hunter, unless the Navy can come up with a snappier nickname.
DARPA tests parasailing radar with its robotic boat
If you want a vision of what naval battles could look like in the near future, you just got it. DARPA has tested a parasailing radar array (part of its Towed Airborne Lift of Naval Systems project, or TALONS) using its robotic ACTUV boat as a nest. The array flew up to 1,000 feet, where its sensors were far more effective than they'd be at ship level. Its surface tracking radar had six times the range, and even a handheld radio covered three times its usual distance. The combination could lead to unmanned warships that not only travel for months on end, but can easily detect potential threats before they're in firing range.
DARPA christens its anti-submarine drone ship 'Sea Hunter'
DARPA's Anti-Submarine Warfare Continuous Trail Unmanned Vessel (ACTUV) has a brand new and less tongue twisty name: Sea Hunter. The agency made the announcement at the drone ship's christening in Portland, following a series of speed tests conducted these past few days. Now that DARPA Director Arati Prabhakar is done smashing a bottle over its bow, it's ready to begin a battery of tests to be held within the next two years. The military has to make sure the 132-foot self-driving ship can evade other marine vessels using its radar and cameras, among other things, before it can officially deploy it.
DARPA starts speed testing its submarine-hunting drone ship
DARPA's 130-foot unmanned ship is almost ready to take on rogue submarines. Its christening isn't slated to take place until April 7th, but it's now in the water near its construction site in Portland, Oregon -- the agency has even begun conducting speed tests. The drone called ACTUV or Anti-Submarine Warfare Continuous Trail Unmanned Vessel has successfully reached the top speed its creators were expecting (31mph) during the preliminary tests. It was, however, designed to do much more than traverse the oceans at 31mph. ACTUV has the capability to use long/short-range sonar to detect foreign submarines, even stealthy diesel electric ones that don't make noise.
DARPA to unveil its 130-foot unmanned robot ship in April
DARPA is christening its autonomous robot ship in April, the agency's director, Arati Prabhakar, has revealed at a media roundtable. That's the same submarine-hunting drone defense contractor Leidos began building in 2014, and the same one that will be steered by software you might have helped develop a few years ago. ACTUV (an acronym for its rather unweildy name: the Anti-Submarine Warfare Continuous Trail Unmanned Vessel) is 132-foot long and weighs 140 tons.
DARPA's ocean-faring drone will hunt enemy submarines
Remember DARPA's aquatic drone that would roam the oceans, hunting down stealthy enemy submarines? Defense contractor Leidos has announced that construction has begun on the first of the fleet, with test cruises expected to begin at some point in 2015. Thanks to both a lack of crew facilities and a modular design, the ACTUV is expected to only take around 15 months to build. With no human operators, however, the drone's artificial intelligence needs to be rock solid to ensure it doesn't kick off another world war. That's why DARPA's been crowd-sourcing amateur submarine tacticians for their ideas with its ACTUV Tactics Simulator game. Yes folks, that time you recreated The Hunt for Red October in a simulation game is now locked inside the Navy's latest weapon. Sleep tight.
SAIC shows how DARPA's submarine-tracking drone ship finds its silent targets (video)
Some of us have been feeding advice to DARPA's ACTUV sub-tracking drone project for more than a year, but we haven't had a in-depth look at how the autonomous ship will go about its business, especially when chasing very silent diesel-electric subs. Thankfully, craft designer SAIC has stepped in with a detailed video tour. If there's suspicions that a diesel sub is in the area, the US Navy can deploy sonar buoys that give the ACTUV an inkling of where to go first. After that, the drone takes over with both long-range and short-range sonar. The vehicle can gauge the intent of ships in its path (with human failsafes) and hound a target for up to 13 weeks -- either letting the Navy close in for an attack or, ideally, spooking the sub into avoiding conflict in the first place. While ACTUV won't hit the waves for years, there's a promise that we'll always know about underwater threats and deal with them on our own terms.
Download DARPA's sub-hunting sim, help train its ACTUV automaton
DARPA dabbles in all matter of defense drones, and it's no stranger to leveraging the wisdom of the masses to help develop tomorrow's military machinery. The agency's latest program to go the crowdsourcing route is its Anti-submarine Warfare Continuous Trail Unmanned Vessel (ACTUV), and it wants you to help develop the software that'll control the thing. DARPA's borrowed a bit of the Sonalysts Combat Simulations Dangerous Waters game to create the ACTUV Tactics Simulator, where players complete missions tracking a target sub while navigating through and around commercial ocean traffic. Would-be captains can then choose to submit their strategies and game data to DARPA for use in shoring up the autonomous seabot's strategic submarine pursuit software. Hit the source link for a free download and dive into the sub-hunting action.
