Sea hunter is an unmanned warship, designed to patrol the oceans for enemy submarines, airborne dangers, and undersea mines. It's one large, autonomous drone ship that the US Navy is fast-tracking in order to help it combat a growing threat from Russia and China.
The 132-foot-long ship can withstand sea states up to Sea State 5, and waves up up to 6.5 feet. It can travel up to 1,500 nautical miles without a crew, and it's capable of conducting surface warfare operations as well.
It's a big leap forward for naval technology, and it has the potential of changing the Navy's approach in maritime defense as well as the way its largest ships perform missions. It's a significant milestone in the development the 'Unmanned Underwater Vehicle (UUV), a new type of autonomous underwater vehicles which could revolutionize the way the Navy fights under water.
DARPA's Anti-Submarine Warfare Continuous Trail Unmanned Vessel(ASW ACTUV), project states that the prototype was designed to be a "highly autonomous, unmanned warship" which will be used for testing "new mission-specific autonomous behavior." It will also test coordination among multiple UUVs. It is part the agency's goal of developing "a new generation" of autonomous vessels capable of replacing the human crew, improving safety and reducing costs.
H I Sutton was an independent defense analyst and first reported on USV's existence in 2021. The USV's location was pinpointed using satellite imagery. Sutton had discovered several signs that the craft was under test, which was confirmed by the follow-up article in 2021.
The UUV is engineered to locate and shadow diesel-electric enemy subs over long periods of time, making sure they avoid vital areas. It uses advanced hydroacoustics, pattern recognition, and algorithms for unmanned navigation to find and shadow the boats.
But this new Navy ship is more than just a tracking vessel. It can also be used as a communication relay and to secure communicate with its larger warships. Sea Hunter's speed- and range will make it a potential vanguard for unmanned warships larger than the current fleet.
The boat's form is a striking blend of a workboat/yacht. This boat offers luxury and comfort at its best. It has individual gear lockers as well as dual rinse tanks for the cameras and dual bins for the strobes.
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This ship was christened at Portland, Oregon in April 2016 as part the Navy's MDUSV test-and-development program. It's the first of a class of ships that utilize artificial intelligence in lieu of a crew. Vigor Industrial is a marine services contractor that specializes on designing and building drones. This ship will also be the first to be based there.