The U.S. Defense Advanced Research and Development Agency has begun the final phase of developing its autonomous 40-meter ship, whose task in the future will be to constantly monitor enemy submarines. And although full-scale tests of the ship will begin only on April 7, the ship has already been launched on the sea dock in Portland (Oregon, USA) and is undergoing speed tests.
The fully autonomous ship is called ACTUV, or Anti-Submarine Warfare Continuous Trail Unmanned Vessel (Unmanned vessel for continuous monitoring of enemy combat submarines). As part of the first high-speed test that began, the vessel reached a maximum speed of 50 kilometers per hour and completely satisfied the requirements set by the designer. However, it is planned that in real conditions an unmanned ship will be able to show speed much higher than 50 kilometers an hour.
The vessel is equipped with long-range and near-range radars for detecting submarines and operates on the basis of a very quiet diesel-electric engine, which complicates its potential detection. Thanks to its systems, the ship will be able to pursue the enemy for a long time and in every way interfere with the implementation of the planned operations. In addition, the ship can be used as a transport ship. However, before starting a real combat mission, ACTUV will pass a series of tests in the open waters of the California coast this summer.
The article is based on materials .
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