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Unmanned Vehicles News

22 Jun 2023

Titanic Sub Pieces Found on Ocean Floor; No Survivors

(Photo: OceanGate Expeditions)

The five people aboard a missing submersible are thought to be dead, according to the company that owns the vessel, bringing a grim end on Thursday to the massive search for the vessel that was lost during a voyage to the Titanic."These men were true explorers who shared a distinct spirit of adventure, and a deep passion for exploring and protecting the world’s oceans," OceanGate Expeditions said in a statement. "Our hearts are with these five souls and every member of their families…

22 Jun 2023

As the Clock Ticks on the Titan Sub, an Expert Explains What Safety Features a Submersible Should Have

(File photo: OceanGate Expeditions)

The oxygen supply of the missing Titan submersible is expected to run out today around 10am GMT, or 8pm AEST.A frantic search continues for the Titan and its five occupants, with sonar buoys having recorded “banging” noises in the search area on Tuesday and Wednesday.With the vessel’s fate yet to be determined, the general public is asking questions about the safety of such touristic endeavours.The contextThe context in which the Titan has disappeared is disturbing. Reports have come out detailing court documents from a 2018 case that show OceanGate…

24 Apr 2023

Russian ‘Spy Ship’ in the North Sea Raises Concerns About Maritime Infrastructure Security

"Spy Ship": Russian oceanographic research vessel Admiral Vladimirsky (File photo: Ministry of Defense of the Russian Federation)

A new documentary produced by a consortium of public broadcasters in Sweden, Denmark, Finland and Norway has revealed what appears to be a profound threat to maritime and undersea energy and data infrastructure in the North Sea and the Baltic region. The Shadow War includes footage of a Russian research vessel called Admiral Vladimirsky allegedly collecting data on windfarms, gas pipelines, power and internet cables.The film, which has been widely reported in the UK press this week, asserts that Russia is systematically mapping the vulnerabilities of maritime infrastructure in the North Sea.

23 Mar 2023

Uncrewed Boats Are Changing the Way Wars Are Fought at Sea

An L3 Harris Arabian Fox MAST-13 unmanned surface vessel sails behind Royal Bahrain Naval Force missile corvette RBNS Al Muharraq (P 51) during a vessel boarding drill in the Arabian Gulf during exercise Neon Defender, Jan. 22. (Photo: Anita Chebahtah / U.S. Navy)

When Ukraine successfully deployed self-driving “drone” boats for a major attack on the Russian navy at Sevastopol in Crimea in September 2022 it was a defining moment that changed the future of naval warfare. Uncrewed surface vessels (USVs) have been used before, but this was the first instance of multiple, armed USVs, used simultaneously in combination with aerial drones for a successful, offensive naval operation on a military target.Several Russian ships were damaged in the attack…

21 Nov 2022

Are Unmanned Surface Vessels the Key to a 500-Ship U.S. Navy?

Photo courtesy Jack Rowley

In an era of great power competition, navies – by virtue of their ability to span the globe and effectively deliver combat power – are likely to be the sine qua non of military power. This leads, naturally, to the tendency to count numbers of ship hulls when comparing the strength of navies. Lost on no one is the fact that the size of China’s Navy now exceeds that of the U.S. Navy, and the gap in ship numbers is growing.During the Cold War, while the quality of their ships might not have been equal to that of the U.S.

07 Nov 2022

Navy: Swedish Combat Boat 90, Both a Warrior and a Workhorse

A riverine command boat operates alongside the amphibious transport dock ship USS New York (LPD 21) in the U.S. 5th Fleet area of responsibility. (U.S. Navy photo by Mass Communication Specialist 2nd Class Zane Ecklund)

The Swedish-built Combat Boat 90 (CB 90) has established itself with military forces around the world as both a warrior and a workhorse. The 52-foot boats first entered service in 1991 as troop carriers with the Swedish Marines, which is still procuring them. There are more than 250 operating worldwide today.These rugged boats are optimized for high-speed / shallow-draft operations in and around Sweden’s many coastal islands, but they have also proven to be ideal for a variety of other applications and operating environments.The CB 90 is 52 feet long, with a draft of just 2 feet 7 inches.

07 Oct 2022

Nord Stream Probe Finds Evidence of Detonations, Swedish Police Say

©guteksk7/AdobeStock

A crime scene investigation of the Nord Stream 1 and 2 gas pipelines from Russia to Europe found evidence of detonations, strengthening suspicions of "gross sabotage", Sweden's Security Service said on Thursday. Swedish and Danish authorities have been investigating four leaks after the pipelines, which link Russia and Germany via the Baltic Sea and have become a flashpoint in the Ukraine crisis, were damaged at the start of last week. Europe, which used to rely on Russia for about 40% of its gas…

28 Jul 2022

US Navy: Building Small Combatants to Create Force Structure and Capability

The Littoral Combat Ship has been made more lethal with the addition of the Naval Strike Mis-sile, seen here installed on USS Charleston (LCS 18).   (U.S. Navy photo by Ensign James French)

The U.S. Navy needs more ships. And that means the Navy has to build more ships than it is decommissioning.The sea service has a stated a goal of 355 ships, and as many as 500 and more when unmanned platforms are counted. There are 298 ships in the fleet today. For surface ships, this number includes a high-low mix of highly capable large surface combatants, and smaller ships such as littoral combat ships LCS).The Navy’s smallest combatants are the 330-ton, 197-foot coastal patrol boats (PCs). Up until recently, ten of them have been serving in the Middle East with the U.S.

16 Aug 2021

Marine Autonomy: The Future is Being Revealed

Foss ASD 90 class tractor tug (Photo: Foss Maritime)

Automation, where routine tasks are handled by machines, has been talked about throughout maritime sectors for much of the 21st Century. Initially touted by suppliers of engine room and bridge management systems for its cost savings (with reduced manning levels), its value proposition was then infused with risk management (reduced human error) and remote operations, where vessels could be managed from a shoreside control room. In early 2017, Rolls Royce —an early proponent of unmanned operations—teamed with tug operator Svitzer on a remotely operated vessel…

06 Aug 2021

Thruster Tech: Capturing Performance Data for Design of Unmanned Vehicles

Image courtesy Hydrocomp

Conducting a sea trial is a necessary step upon delivery of a ship. This activity not only documents and validates anticipated ship speed and power, but if done correctly also provides performance data that can be useful for design purposes. The same holds true for underwater vehicles in general and thrusters in particular. However, while gathering data may seem easy, extracting useful trial data for typical UVs can often be pretty challenging.We should start with an understanding of the system – the Vehicle-Propulsor-Drive system.

15 Feb 2021

Subsea Defense: Navy Deepens Commitment to Underwater Vehicles

Senior Chief Mineman Abraham Garcia (left) and Aerographer's Mate 1st Class Joshua Gaskill, members of the Knifefish Unmanned Undersea Vehicle (UUV) test team, man tending lines during crane operations as part of an operational test conducted by members from Operational Test and Evaluation Force (OPTEVFOR). Knifefish is a medium-class mine countermeasure UUV designed for deployment off the Littoral Combat Ship. OPTEVFOR is the Navy’s sole test and evaluation organization for surface, air, and un

The U.S. Navy uses unmanned and robotic underwater vehicles for a multitude of functions, including environmental sensing, mine hunting, and salvage. The Navy plans to evolve an unmanned systems operating concept that is platform agnostic and capable of operating in highly complex contested environments with minimal operator interaction.The most recent edition of the Navy’s Unmanned Systems (UxS) Roadmap was issued in 2018, and a new version is expected in the near future. The 2018 document states that UxS will operate in every domain…

04 Jan 2021

HII Acquires Autonomy Business from Spatial Integrated Systems

Spatial Integrated Systems' unmanned systems solutions, including multi-vehicle collaborative autonomy, sensor fusion and perception, have been fielded for more than 6,000 hours on 23 vessel types. Image courtesy HII

In a move that further expands its unmanned systems capabilities, Huntington Ingalls Industries acquired the autonomy business of Spatial Integrated Systems Inc. (SIS) which has proven unmanned surface vessel (USV) solutions.SIS’s unmanned systems solutions — including multi-vehicle collaborative autonomy, sensor fusion and perception — have been fielded for more than 6,000 hours on 23 vessel types. They have supported multiple development projects and demonstrations advancing autonomy in unmanned systems in the maritime…

15 Dec 2020

New Autonomous Navigation System Put to the Test

(Photo: tgroup)

A rigorous sea trials program has demonstrated that a new autonomous navigation system can safely navigate unmanned vessels in real-time and in a real-life environment—without human intervention.U.K.-based tpgroup said its patent pending Northstar was successfully used on different platforms and within a range of environments that include congested waterways and in open water. This level of technological maturity (technical readiness level 7) means that it can be developed for…

15 Sep 2020

Charting Terradepth's Big Ambitions in the Unmanned Vehicle Space

The Terradepth leapfrog concept. Graphic from Terradepth.

Ocean mapping at scale is the target of a new unmanned systems player started by two ex-US Navy SEALS. They have big ambitions, from new building unmanned vehicles to creating the intelligence that will drive them to changing how accessible ocean data is. Elaine Maslin learned more. The pace of change in the ocean mapping space has been fast in recent years. New entrants have come into the scene offering “force multiplier” mapping using autonomous underwater vehicles (AUVs) and unmanned surface vessels (USVs).

24 Aug 2020

Video: LCS 21 Completes Acceptance Trials

Littoral Combat Ship (LCS) 21, the future USS Minneapolis-Saint Paul, completed acceptance trials in Lake Michigan. (Photo: Lockheed Martin)

Littoral Combat Ship (LCS) 21, the future USS Minneapolis-Saint Paul, completed acceptance trials in Lake Michigan ahead of final outfitting and fine-tuning before delivery to the U.S. Navy in 2021.LCS 21 is the 11th Freedom-variant LCS designed and built by the Lockheed Martin-led industry team that includes Fincantieri Marinette Marine and Gibbs & Cox."LCS 21 joins a fleet of sister ships delivering unique flexibility and capability to the U.S. Navy," said Joe DePietro, Lockheed Martin vice president and general manager, Small Combatants and Ship Systems.

27 Mar 2020

MBARI Works at Unlocking Ocean Biology

MBARI researchers head out into Monterey Bay to deploy a long-range autonomous underwater vehicle (LR-AUV), an underwater robot that is programmed at the surface and then travels underwater for hundreds of miles, measuring water chemistry and collecting water samples as it goes.  Credit: Brian Kieft (c) 2015 MBARI

Greater understanding of what goes on in the ocean is starting to become a reality – thanks to growing use of unmanned surface and underwater vehicles and developments in biological sensing. Elaine Maslin takes a look at what a team at MBARI has been doing.Gathering biological data from the oceans remains a significant challenge for oceanographers. Now, an increasing range of unmanned vehicles that are able to work together is becoming available, as is an ability to collect biological data using them.It sounds straight forward…

03 Mar 2020

USS Cooperstown Launched and Christened

The U.S. Navy launched its newest Freedom-variant littoral combat ship (LCS), the future USS Cooperstown (LCS 23), on January 19 and then christened the new warship during a ceremony on February 29, in Marinette, Wis."The christening of the future USS Cooperstown marks an important step toward this great ship's entry into the fleet," said Acting Secretary of the Navy Thomas Modly. “The dedication and skilled work of everyone involved in the building of this ship has ensured that…

23 Feb 2020

AV in Support of Naval Operations

Europe’s leading Naval defence company Naval Group has developed a range of sophisticated solutions to operate unmanned vehicles  and protect warships systems to enhance the defence of sovereign interests.The  French shipbuilding company has presented its solution to address compelling information  modern warfare trends at the Unmanned Systems Exhibition (UMEX) in Abu Dhabi.Set in the context of emerging threats including the use of mines, piracy and cyber-attacks, Naval Group has developed a range of sophisticated solutions to operate unmanned vehicles  and protect warships systems to enhance the defence of sovereign interests.Unmanned systems also offer many advantages…

19 Feb 2020

Measuring the Hostile Ocean Beneath Hurricanes

Fig.1: A Slocum glider from Teledyne Webb Research, en route to deployment. Credit: Rutgers University.

Unmanned Vehicles Collect Data for Improving Storm ForecastsThe influences of ocean conditions and currents on living environments are now more widely appreciated—from the Earth’s climate and severe weather conditions to fisheries and biodiversity. Sustained and widespread measurements are needed to provide essential clues for understanding the oceans, for effective monitoring of environmental changes, and for helping to clarify the long-term effects of global warming.To meet this challenge, ocean researchers have invented various types of unmanned observing platforms.

15 Oct 2019

Interview: Dr. Catherine Warner, Director, NATO CMRE

Dr. Catherine Warner, Director, NATO CMRE. Photo: CMRE

At CMRE, it’s not just about the science. It’s about building trust and confidence in resilient systems. An interview with Dr. Catherine Warner, Director, NATO Center for Maritime Research and Experimentation, La Spezia, ItalyTell us a little about yourself and CMRE. What does CMRE do, and how do you see your mission evolving?I came here from the Pentagon, where I was the science advisor for the director of operational test and evaluation. My experience has been working with operators on systems that they’re getting ready to field.

08 Oct 2019

NATO employs MUSCLE Memory to Find Mines

MUSCLE Autonomous Underwater Vehicle Deployment. Photo courtesy of CMRE

Underwater vehicles communicate, make decisions, and work as a teamThe NATO Center for Maritime Research and Experimentation (CMRE) in La Spezia, Italy, is combining smarts and muscle to solve a complex warfighting challenge: finding and destroying mines in the murky waters of the littoral.CMRE has developed experimental unmanned vehicles for experimentation. Now it is evolving those vehicles to communicate and cooperate with each other, and to solve problems on their own.According to CMRE’s director Dr.

01 Jul 2019

Austal Christens USS Oakland

Photo: Austal

Austal USA hosted the christening of the future USS Oakland (LCS 24). This is the first of three U.S. Navy ships to be christened at Austal’s state-of-the-art ship manufacturing facility in 2019.Oakland is the 12th of 19 Independence-variant littoral combat ships (LCSs) Austal USA has under contract with the U.S. Navy. The ship’s sponsor, Kate Brandt, a recipient of the Distinguished Public Service Award, the highest award the U.S. Navy can give to a civilian, headlined the group of officials…

14 May 2019

OPT Wave Power System Reaches Milestone

US-owned renewable energy company Ocean Power Technologies (OPT) announced that the Company's PB3 PowerBuoy deployed in the Adriatic Sea has produced more than one MegaWatt-hour (MWh) cumulative energy to date. The cost-effective ocean energy solutions provider said that the PowerBuoy has been deployed for six months, operating continuously and error-free while being controlled remotely from OPT’s NJ facility.George H. Kirby, OPT’s President and Chief Executive Officer said, “We are excited to announce this major power generation milestone for our PB3 PowerBuoy deployed in the Adriatic Sea. Since the contract began in March of last year…

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