Machine gunned robot ships are chasing pirates and saving innocents. The future has arrived and the Terminator is in it.
Spartan USVs have been deployed for a while, I’ve found references back to 2003. They gather information to protect military vehicles from Cole type attacks. The Spartan can run about two days and travel at around 50 mph.
The newer MRVI Interceptor can be controlled or run autonomously. It has been designed to take on pirates, protect oil rigs and military vessels.
Robots versus pirates—it’s not as stupid, or unlikely, as it sounds. Piracy has exploded in the waters near Somalia, where this past week United States warships have fired on two pirate skiffs, and are currently in pursuit of a hijacked Japanese-owned vessel. At least four other ships in the region remain under pirate control, and the problem appears to be going global: The International Maritime Bureau is tracking a 14-percent increase in worldwide pirate attacks this year. [ more information Robot boats hunt high-tech pirates on the high-speed seas]
More information:
Spartan Scout ( pdf )
MRVI Interceptor
Sea Robotics
USV Video
See also:
Robots of War
More robots on the sea
What happens when weapons development goes private?
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