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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.
