Unmanned Surface Vehicles from Around the World

The Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) under the U.S. Department of Defense is considering a plan to move military units using a connected system of unmanned surface vehicles (USVs) that can move like a train on the sea. (Photo by militaryaerospace.com)

[Asia Economy Yang Nak-gyu, Military Specialist Reporter] According to the ‘Defense Swarm Robot Technology Roadmap’ published last year by the Defense Technology Quality Institute, military powers are focusing their technological capabilities on swarm robots. Swarm robots refer to robots modeled after living organisms such as ants, bees, and birds that form swarms to perform tasks like foraging, moving, building nests, and attacking. Advanced countries are developing these robots divided by operational domains such as land, air, and maritime. Maritime swarm robots consist of low-cost small unmanned surface vessels or unmanned submarines that operate in swarms to carry out missions such as reconnaissance, anti-submarine warfare, and mine warfare.

The U.S. Navy is developing combat-capable small, medium, and large surface swarm robots to counter China’s Anti-Access/Area Denial (A2/AD) strategy in the South China Sea. The U.S. Navy’s 5th Fleet recently conducted unmanned surface vessel operation training for the first time during the New Horizon exercise with the Bahrain Navy. The unmanned surface vessel revealed at that time was the Mantas T-12. This unmanned surface vessel was remotely operated from the Cyclone-class patrol ship Fire Bolt. It was responsible for forward reconnaissance before the naval ship was forward deployed. The Mantas T-12 is 3.6 meters long, has a maximum speed of 30 knots, and can carry a payload of 64 kg.

The Royal Navy of the United Kingdom is currently testing the unmanned surface vessel Otter Pro. The Otter Pro, developed by Norway’s Maritime Robotics, is assigned to underwater exploration missions. To this end, it is equipped with various measurement instruments for shallow waters. Weighing only 55 kg, the Otter Pro can be launched by a single operator. It also carries four replaceable batteries and uses two electric propulsion units, enabling continuous operation for up to 20 hours at a speed of 2 knots (kt). The Otter Pro can complete exploration of a 7,000㎡ lake in 40 minutes and obtain exploration data within an hour.

China is also actively developing unmanned surface vessels. The unmanned surface vessels developed by OceanAlpha can be connected by their decks and operated together. This increases navigational stability and allows the use of a wide deck to mount unmanned aerial vehicles. Notably, the engines of these unmanned surface vessels use a hybrid system combining diesel and electric power, which reduces noise and significantly extends mission duration.

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.