The United
States Department of Defense is in the initial stages of creating unmanned drone
submarines that will navigate the oceans, tracking and following enemy subs for
months at a time.
The Defense
Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA), which is responsible for developing
new military technologies, started the project because “the growing number of
adversaries able to build and operate quiet diesel electric submarines is a
national security threat that affects U.S. and friendly naval operations around
the world,” according to a statement on the DARPA website.
Normally,
anti-submarine warfare has been conducted by U.S. Navy captains at the helm of
ships, but humans will never board these drones, also known as a “Continuous
Trail Autonomous Vessels,” according to Discovery News.
The subs will be
able to patrol the U.S. coastline for up to 80 days at a time covering thousands
of kilometers using non-conventional sensor technologies that “achieve robust
continuous track of the quietest submarine targets over their entire operating
envelope,” DARPA stated on its website.
The vessel’s
main task will be to patrol the waters for enemy submarines and then chase them
away if located. The sub will also gather information deemed necessary by the
U.S. government, which will then be sent to U.S. naval commanders up above on
land, according to Discovery News.
The only time
humans are needed to operate the unarmed drones will be to navigate the robot
subs through crowded harbors.
In August, DARPA
awarded a $58 million contract to Science Applications International Corporation
(SAIC), which is now responsible for designing, constructing and creating a
prototype of the vessel. RIA Novosti
In October, the
Navy christened its newest nuclear-powered submarine, the $2.6 billion USS
Minnesota at the Newport News shipyard in Virginia. The Navy is experimenting
with launching robotic mini-subs and even unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) from
Virginia-class attack subs like the Minnesota. defense.aol.com The Navy is also
designing a "Virginia Payload Module" that would increase future submarines'
launch capacity, but it's uncertain whether actual development will get funded.
defense.aol.com What's more,
while sub-launched drones are a new idea to American admirals, "the Israelis
experimented with it more than 20 years ago," said naval historian Norman
Polmar. "The US Navy's just been horribly slow." defense.aol.com The U.S. Navy in
October also launched six Israeli-made Spike missiles from an unmanned 36-foot
motorboat after the U.S. Air Force's drones have been firing all sorts of
air-to-surface missiles and bombs for roughly a decade. Foreign
Policy
AHT/HJ
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