ROBOT BOAT TO GULF

An exper­i­men­tal, robotic boat is on its way to the Persian Gulf, StrategyPage notes.
Aboard the cruiser USS Gettysburg is the Spartan Scout USV (unmanned sur­face vehi­cle), a 23 foot-​​long, semi-​​autonomous boat, designed for coastal patrols and the pro­tec­tion of big­ger, manned ships.
The drone “has a day/​night cam­era, a radar, and radio gear that allows it to broad­cast video and radar images back to the Gettysburg,” StrategyPage says. And the Spartan can be equipped with Hellfire or Javelin mis­siles, which could be used to “attack other sur­face ves­sels or con­duct pre­ci­sion strikes ashore,” accord­ing to a U.S. Navy press release.
“It’s not known if the USV will be equipped with mis­siles for tests while it is in the Persian Gulf,” StrategyPage notes. But Al Qaeda — respon­si­ble for watery attacks, like the one on the USS Cole — is report­edly “inter­ested in mak­ing more sui­cide boat attacks on American war­ships.” The Spartan Scout USV could help stop such strikes.

December 16th, 2003 | Drones | Comments Off Both comments and pings are currently closed.