As autonomy and unmanned systems grow in importance for naval operations, officials at the Office of Naval Research (ONR) announced a technological breakthrough that will allow any unmanned surface vehicle (USV) to not only protect US Navy ships, but also, for the first time, autonomously “swarm” offensively on hostile vessels.
The first-of-its-kind technology—successfully demonstrated over two weeks in August on the James River in Virginia—allows unmanned Navy vessels to overwhelm an adversary. Its sensors and software enable swarming capability, giving naval warfighters a decisive edge.