US launches unmanned patrol crafts for the US Navy

Combating terrorism and fighting crime is the focus of the US and, it has now launched the unmanned patrol craft on the lines of the UAVs nzherald.co.nz – the patrol craft would carry out seaborne activities.

Demonstration of the autonomous swarm boat technology was given by the Office of Naval Research on the James River near Fort Eustis in Virginia.
The demonstration involved a simulated transit through a strait, similar to the routine passage of US warships through the Strait of Hormuz in the Gulf.
The demonstrations involved 13 small unmanned patrol boats that were escorting a high-value navy ship. Subsequently, eight of the self-guided vessels broke off and swarmed around a threat in the form of a ship that was playing the role of an enemy vessel.

These self-guided unmanned patrol boats can leave warships that they are protecting and proceed to attack potential threats on the water – these could join the US Navy's fleet within a year. US defense officials have indicated that the addition of the new technology could help stop attacks like the deadly 2000 bombing of the USS Cole off Yemen.