Self-guided unmanned patrol boats that can leave warships they're protecting and swarm and attack potential threats on the water could join the Navy's fleet within a year, defense officials say, adding the new technology could one day help stop attacks like the deadly 2000 bombing of the USS Cole. During two weeks of demonstrations this August, the Navy simulated a transit through a strait, just like the routine passage of US warships through the Strait of Hormuz in the Persian Gulf. In the demonstrations, as many as 13 small unmanned patrol boats were escorting a high-value Navy ship. Then as many as eight of the self-guided vessels broke off and swarmed around a threat when a ship playing the part of an enemy vessel was detected, the office said, calling the demonstrations a success.
The boats can decide for themselves what movements to make once they're alerted to a threat, says the Nevy's program manager, and work together to encircle or block the path of an opposing vessel. The rigid-hull inflatable patrol boats can also fire .50 caliber machine guns if called upon to do so. However, a human will always be the one to make the decision to use lethal force, officials said. A sailor on a command ship would be in charge of each of the unmanned boats and could take control over any of the boats at any moment. And if communication between the unmanned boats and the sailor overseeing them were ever broken, the boat would automatically shut down. "I never want to see the USS Cole happen again," said Rear Adm. Matthew Klunder, chief of naval research. "I can tell you the systems we just put out on the water would've prevented the Cole." (More Navy stories.)
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