US-based sea drone manufacturer Saronic Technologies has launched a new 52-foot (15.8-metre) dual-use autonomous surface vessel (ASV). The vessel has started on-water trials at the firm's testing facility in Galveston, Texas.
The vessel is designed to support maritime domain awareness, security, and detection missions either fully autonomously or under remote human supervision.
It features a top speed of over 35 knots (64.8 kilometres per hour), a range of more than 2,500 nautical miles (4,630 kilometres), and a payload capacity of 3,500 pounds (1,588 kilograms).
This platform represents the third vessel in the company's line-up, joining a 24-foot (7.3-metre) ASV and a 180-foot (54.9-metre) medium unmanned surface vehicle (MUSV).
Saronic stated that the modular architecture of this specific ASV allows for the integration of various government-off-the-shelf and commercial-off-the-shelf hardware and software systems.
It added that this capability enables rapid deployment of mission payloads and sensor packages without requiring a redesign of the underlying ship systems.
The vehicle is manufactured at the company's headquarters in Austin, Texas, where the next hull is already under construction. On-water testing in Galveston will evaluate the performance of the vessel across its design envelope while trials of the 24-foot ASV platform continue.
