DRONE LOST AT SEA

Fisherman and divers of Norway: If you hap­pen to see a ten-​​foot long, robotic mini-​​submarine swim­ming off of your shores, please call the U.S. Navy. The ser­vice has been try­ing to find its mine-​​sweeping drone for a week, now, after the ‘bot failed to return to its mother ship, the USS Swift.
The Swift has bro­ken off its par­tic­i­pa­tion in a mil­i­tary exer­cise to look for the Battlespace Preparation Autonomous Underwater Vehicle, the AP reports.
“The ship has searched every­where from the fjord lead­ing into the south­ern town Kristiansand to deep ocean water some 30 kilo­me­tres out, where the waters can be as much as 580 metres deep,” the wire ser­vice says. “Because the sub could sur­face just about any­where along Norway’s coast, [Norwegian mil­i­tary spokesman Cmdr. Thom] Knustad appealed on national radio for Norwegians to be on the look­out for the torpedo-​​shaped, yellowish-​​orange device with a pro­peller on one end. “
THERE’S MORE: The boat out look­ing for the lost drone isn’t the USS Swift, Defense Tech reader ET informs us — that ship has scrapped years ago. Instead, it’s the “HSV-​​2 Swift, leased from ship­builder Incat in Australia.”

May 6th, 2004 | Drones | Comments Off Both comments and pings are currently closed.