Autonomous unmanned surface vehicle launched in 2016
Sea Hunter
|
History
|
United States
|
Name
| Sea Hunter
|
Builder
| Leidos
|
Acquired
| April 2016
|
Identification
| MMSI number
:
369970970
|
Status
| in service
[1]
|
General characteristics
|
Type
| Unmanned surface vehicle
|
Displacement
| 135 tons (standard)
145 tons (full load)
|
Length
| 132 ft (40 m)
|
Propulsion
| 2x
Diesel
engines
|
Speed
| 27
knots
(50 km/h; 31 mph)
|
Range
| 10,000 nautical miles (12,000 mi; 19,000 km)
|
Endurance
| 30?90 day without supply
|
Complement
| None
|
Armament
| None
|
Sea Hunter
is an
autonomous
unmanned surface vehicle
(USV) launched in 2016 as part of the
DARPA
Anti-Submarine Warfare
Continuous Trail Unmanned Vessel (
ACTUV
) program.
[2]
The ship was christened 7 April 2016 in
Portland, Oregon
. It was designed and built by
Leidos
[3]
. The vessel continues the line of experimental "Sea" ships, including
Sea Shadow
,
Sea Fighter
,
Sea Jet
, and
Sea Slice
.
[4]
Sea Hunter
is classified as a Class III USV and designated the
Medium Displacement Unmanned Surface Vehicle
(
MDUSV
).
[5]
Description
[
edit
]
The initially unarmed prototype, built at a cost of $20 million, is a 132-foot (40 meter)-long
trimaran
(a central hull with two outriggers). It is an unmanned self-piloting craft with twin screws, powered by two
diesel engines
with a top speed of 27 knots (31 mph; 50 km/h). Her weight is 135 tons, including 40 tons of fuel, adequate for a 70-day cruise. Cruising range is "transoceanic,"
[6]
10,000 nautical miles (12,000 mi; 19,000 km) at 12 knots (14 mph; 22 km/h)
[7]
fully fueled with 14,000 U.S. gallons (53,000 L) of diesel, enough "to go from
San Diego
to
Guam
and back to
Pearl Harbor
on a tank of gas."
[8]
Sea Hunter
has a full load displacement of 145 tons and is intended to be operational through
Sea State
5, waves up to 6.5 ft (2.0 m) high and winds up to 21 knots (24 mph; 39 km/h), and survivable through Sea State 7, seas up to 20 ft (6.1 m) high.
[9]
The trimaran hull provides increased stability without requiring a weighted
keel
, giving her a higher capacity for linear trajectories and better operations in shallow waters, though the greater width decreases maneuverability.
[5]
A removable operator control station is installed during the testing period "for safety and backup" until it can be determined to reliably operate on her own. Operationally, computers will drive and control the ship, with a human always observing and taking charge if necessary in a concept called Sparse Supervisory Control, meaning a person is in control, but not "
joy sticking
" the vessel around.
[9]
The system can patrol without human guidance, using optical guidance and radar to avoid hitting obstacles or other watercraft.
[10]
The ship has a host of non-standard features because of her lack of crew, including an internal layout that offers enough room for maintenance to be performed but not for any people to be permanently present.
[4]
It is fitted with quicKutter shaft protection rope/line cutters from Quickwater Marine in Perth. These devices protect the vessel from damage caused by rope or net caught by the propellers without affecting the vessel's performance.
The craft is expected to undergo two years of testing before being placed in service with the
U.S. Navy
. If tests are successful, future craft of this type may be armed and used for anti-submarine and counter-mine duties, operating at a cost of $15,000?20,000 per day, a fraction of the cost of a
destroyer
at $700,000 per day (in 2015, equivalent to $899,789 in 2023);
[10]
[11]
it could operate with
Littoral Combat Ships
, becoming an extension of the LCS ASW module.
[9]
Deputy U.S. Defense Secretary
Robert Work
said that if weapons are added to the ship, a human would always remotely make the decision to use lethal force.
[12]
Following successful initial development, it was reported on 1 February 2018 that DARPA had handed development of
Sea Hunter
to the
Office of Naval Research
(ONR).
[13]
Sea trials and operations
[
edit
]
Sea Hunter
gets underway on the
Willamette River
following a christening ceremony in Portland, Oregon in April 2016.
On 22 June 2016,
Sea Hunter
completed initial performance trials, meeting or surpassing all performance objectives for speed, maneuverability, stability, seakeeping, acceleration/deceleration, fuel consumption, and mechanical systems reliability in the open-ocean. Upcoming trials will include testing of sensors, the vessel's autonomy suite, compliance with maritime collision regulations, and proof-of-concept demonstrations for a variety of U.S. Navy missions.
[14]
Sea Hunter
was sent to the ONR in summer 2017 for operational testing and evaluation for mine-countermeasure,
EO
/
IR
, and submarine detection capabilities. Plans for FY 2018 include adding
intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance
(ISR) and offensive anti-submarine payloads.
[5]
In August 2022,
Sea Hunter
and other unmanned vessels
USV
Nimrod
and
USV
Ranger
(
Ghost Fleet Overlord
) participated in the
Rim of the Pacific exercise
(RIMPAC).
[15]
Influence
[
edit
]
It has been reported in 2020 that the
People's Republic of China
was building clones of
Sea Hunter
.
[16]
References
[
edit
]
- ^
"Navy Increases Unmanned Capabilities with Newly Established Unmanned Surface Division"
.
United States Navy
.
- ^
Vincent, James (April 8, 2016).
"The US Navy's new autonomous warship is called the Sea Hunter"
.
The Verge
.
Archived
from the original on April 12, 2016
. Retrieved
April 12,
2016
.
- ^
Lagrone, Sam (April 9, 2021).
"Navy Takes Delivery of Sea Hawk Unmanned Vessel"
.
- ^
a
b
DARPA’s Autonomous Sub-Tracker
Archived
2016-05-08 at the
Wayback Machine
- Copybook.com.Military, 11 April 2016
- ^
a
b
c
Navy anti-submarine drone-ship conducts minehunting testing
Archived
April 23, 2019, at the
Wayback Machine
- Defensesystems.com, 4 May 2017
- ^
Njus, Elliot (April 7, 2016).
"The military's Oregon-built drone ship is headed to California"
.
The Oregonian
.
Archived
from the original on April 10, 2016
. Retrieved
April 8,
2016
.
- ^
Pellerin, Cheryl (April 8, 2016).
"Work: Robot warship demonstrates advances in autonomy, human-machine collaboration"
(Press release). U.S. Department of Defense.
Archived
from the original on April 21, 2016
. Retrieved
April 12,
2016
.
- ^
ACTUV on track for Navy success story
Archived
2016-12-31 at the
Wayback Machine
- C4ISRnet.com, 21 December 2016
- ^
a
b
c
Christopher P. Cavas (April 7, 2016).
"Unmanned Sub-Hunter To Begin Test Program"
.
Defense News
. Gannett
. Retrieved
April 8,
2016
.
- ^
a
b
Stewart, Phil (April 8, 2016).
"U.S. military christens self-driving 'Sea Hunter' warship"
.
Reuters
.
Archived
from the original on April 12, 2016
. Retrieved
April 12,
2016
.
- ^
ACTUV Sea Trials Set for Early 2016
Archived
2015-11-14 at the
Wayback Machine
- Science.DoDlive.mil, 9 November 2015
- ^
Westcott, Lucy (April 8, 2016).
"Meet Sea Hunter, the U.S.Navy's robotic, self-driving warship"
.
Newsweek
.
Archived
from the original on April 12, 2016
. Retrieved
April 12,
2016
.
- ^
"ACTUV"
.
- ^
Leidos completes initial performance tests of highly autonomous Unmanned Surface Vessel
Archived
2016-08-07 at the
Wayback Machine
- Navyrecognition.com, 27 July 2016
- ^
Eckstein, Megan (August 8, 2022).
"US Navy injects first-of-kind unmanned experiments into multinational exercise"
.
Defense News
. Retrieved
November 3,
2022
.
- ^
Sutton, H I.
"New evidence of China's Copy of U.S. Navy Sea Hunter USV"
.
www.hisutton.com
. HI Sutton
. Retrieved
October 16,
2020
.
External links
[
edit
]