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.