This week covers unmanned vehicle projects in the United States including a USV prototype launch and UUV development as part of a trilateral agreement with Australia and Britain. A European collaboration will meanwhile introduce underwater submersibles and related technologies.
Kongsberg and underwater defence technology company Drass have formed a partnership with the aim of developing unmanned vessels and related systems for defence applications.
Espen Henriksen, Senior Vice President Uncrewed Platforms at Kongsberg, said the two companies' goal is to develop scalable and interoperable underwater systems that can meet changing operational and defence needs.
The systems to be developed by the partners will include unmanned underwater vehicles (UUVs), maritime intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance solutions, and manned-unmanned teaming.
Marine technology company Fleetzero, US shipbuilder Thoma-Sea Marine Constructors of Louisiana, and Seattle-based naval architecture firm Glosten have established a collaboration with the aim of developing and deploying integrated autonomous vessel solutions for commercial maritime, government, and defence customers.
The partnership brings together Fleetzero's battery energy storage system, propulsion technologies and autonomy stack with Thoma-Sea's domestic shipbuilding capacity and Glosten's vessel design expertise.
The three companies have begun developing an integrated autonomous diesel-electric vessel engineered for use in contested waters, persistent operations, and supply delivery with minimal radar cross-section.
US unmanned systems manufacturer Saronic Technologies has launched a new medium unmanned surface vehicle (MUSV) at its Franklin, Louisiana facilities.
The craft is the first example of a series of MUSVs capable of long-endurance navigation. The vessel can be operated either remotely or autonomously.
Upon completion, the MUSV will have a range of 5,400 nautical miles, a top speed of just over 25 knots, and a capacity of up to 150 tonnes of assorted payloads including 20-foot and 40-foot ISO containers.
The US Department of the Navy has selected seven companies’ entries to advance to the at-sea testing phase of the medium unmanned surface vessel (MUSV) marketplace.
The seven companies selected to participate in the MUSV family of systems development are: Sea Machines Robotics; Leidos; Saronic Technologies; Galliano Marine Services; PacMar Technologies; Birdon; and Huntington Ingalls Industries.
Companies whose MUSV successfully completes the at-sea test will receive US$15 million and will be eligible for follow-on production. At-sea testing will begin next month and should be complete by October 2026.
The United States, Britain and Australia are working together to develop unmanned undersea vehicles as part of their trilateral AUKUS defence pact, US Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth told reporters on Saturday.
The programme comes under AUKUS's so-called "Pillar Two" to develop advanced defence technology including quantum computing, undersea, hypersonic, artificial intelligence and cyber technology.
"The signature project will deliver a suite of highly adaptable multi-mission UUV payloads designed to support undersea operations and maintain our collective advantage in the maritime domain," Hegseth said.
Formed by the three countries in 2021, AUKUS is part of their efforts to push back against China's growing power in the Indo-Pacific region.
