This is how the Navy of the future will look like!
During Unmanned Warrior exercise at the West Coast of Scotland, Royal Navy revealed their state of the art marine robotic systems and unmanned vehicles which can accompany conventional naval ships.
Unmanned Warrior is part of a strategic joint military exercise which involves Britain, NATO, and allied nations.
The routine consists of over 5,700 personnel, 31 warships, and almost 70 aircrafts, making it one of the largest military drills in the world.
Unmanned Warrior is mainly focused on assessing and keeping up with the new autonomous and remote-controlled technologies that are helpful for military surveillance, intelligence-gathering, and mine countermeasures.
Unmanned Warrior operates in four ranges: The Hebrides around Benbecula in the Western Isles and Stoneway to the north, the British Underwater Test and Evaluation Centre (BUTEC) at the Kyle of Lochalsh by Skye, and Applecross.
This year, British Army’s Watchkeeper Unmanned Aerial Vehicle (UAV), operated by the Royal Artillery 47th Regiment, was the star of the show. It can also be used to provide support for ships that head for Joint Warrior.
Many other impressive aircrafts included the hand-launchable Black Star winged drone, Schiebel Camcopter S100 mini helicopter, US Navy’s NRQ 21 fixed wing UAV, twin engined Sea Hunter, self-landing unmanned aerial vehicles, Boeing ScanEagle entailing a new visual detection and ranging system, and the pilot-optional Leonardo Solo helicopter.
Along with the astounding flying drones, Unmanned Warrior also had an exceptionally impressive array of robotic surface boats and submersibles.
One of the most impressive ones was the Pacific 950, which is a Rigid Inflatable Boat (RIB) having a remote control kit, thermal imaging, and all-around vision. These features enable it to be a perfect “watchdog” for other ships at the port while being able to make slow passages through harbors.
Royal Navy minehunter ships were also revealed, which included the Remus 100 and Remus 600 robotic submersibles having advanced sonar technology to seek out dummy mines.
Moreover, the Remus is light-weight and easily customizable. Hence, it can adapt to difficult situations quickly. Other impressive unmanned surface minesweepers included the Atlas ARCIMIS.
Royal Navy Fleet Robotics Officer Commander Peter Pipkin said, “The technologies demonstrated in Unmanned Warrior have the potential to fundamentally change the future of Royal Navy operations just as the advent of steam propulsion or submarines did.”
He added, “This is a chance to take a great leap forward in Maritime Systems – not to take people out of the loop, but to enhance everything they do, extending our reach and efficiency using intelligent robotics at sea.”
Unmanned Warrior and Joint Warrior campaign will continue until October 20.
