Gonna need a new subsim game for this one!

[Aktungbby]

A prototype autonomous ship known as the Medium Displacement Unmanned Surface Vehicle (MDUSV) has been transferred to the U.S. Navy from the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) after a two-year testing and evaluation program. Named “Sea Hunter,” the Office of Naval Research will continue to develop the vessel from this point forward.
Although there’s no specific timetable for when the Sea Hunter would join active naval operations, the statement from DARPA indicated that it could happen as early as this year. The anti-submarine warfare vessel could be the first of an entirely new class of warship.
“[Sea Hunter] represents a new vision of naval surface warfare that trades small numbers of very capable, high-value assets for large numbers of commoditized, simpler platforms that are more capable in the aggregate,” said Fred Kennedy of DARPA. “The U.S. military has talked about the strategic importance of replacing ‘king’ and ‘queen’ pieces on the maritime chessboard with lots of ‘pawns. (Cheaper...and lots of 'em is better!)
According to Newsweek, the ship got its name from the mission the Navy envisions for it — stalking foreign submarines at sea. It’s relatively cheap to build at $20 million, and it’s far less expensive to run than a similar manned vessel.
“This is an inflection point,” former Deputy Defense Secretary Robert Work said in an interview with Reuters in 2016. “This is the first time we’ve ever had a totally robotic, trans-oceanic-capable ship.” ...Hey nobody to blame(or get killed) when it rams another vessel!! The Navy hopes that ships of the future will be able to stay at sea for months at a time and travel thousands of miles without any crew. The Sea Hunter is currently a surveillance platform and has no weapons onboard. It’s 127 feet long and can reach speed of 27 knots, using cameras and radar to track its location and spot other ships. https://www.darpa.mil/news-events/2018-01-30a ATTN killerfishGames: We'll need a new mod in Cold Waters ASAP IMHO!! ...'COLD DRONE GÖTTERDÄMMERUNG'

[Eichhörnchen]

V interesting post, matey

[Gargamel]

We had one, a while ago. Sonalysts had partnered up with DARPA to design the AI, and they asked subsim.com to help. We had a version of DW that you could download and play, and it would report the results to DARPA. It would help them maximize tracking effeciency, while avoiding other surface vessels.

We had a whole sub-forum about it.

[Mr Quatro]

Now they want to build a second one in Mississippi ...

Leidos, which manufactured the first vessel’s navigation system, has since taken over the project entirely. In December 2017, that company received a $35.5 million contract from the Navy to build the second hull, referred to as Sea Hunter II. The bulk of that work would occur at a shipyard in Gulfport, Mississippi.

Clearing mines on an unmanned drone makes sense to me

In August 2017, DARPA and ONR tested Sea Hunter with a mine countermeasures package, which could be another possible mission set for the boat.

http://www.thedrive.com/the-war-zone...s-and-a-sister