(May 2, 2016) The military has starting testing the world’s largest autonomous surface vessel — a self-driving, 132-foot ship designed to travel across oceans without a single crew member.
The Sea Hunter, developed by DARPA, could potentially revolutionize the shipping industry, if tests prove successful. During the testing phase, the ship will have human operators as a safety net, but once it proves to be reliable, the autonomous surface vessel will maneuver itself — able to go out at sea for months at a time and travel up to 10,000 nautical miles.
The military initially built the diesel-powered ship to detect stealthy diesel-electric submarines, but developers say they believe it has the capability to go beyond that, including detecting mines. There are no plans at this point to arm it.
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