‘Robot Rib’ drone boat tested by Royal Navy in UK waters for first time

A drone vessel which could beryllium deployed by the Royal Navy connected reconnaissance and defence missions without endangering the lives of sailors has been operated remotely for the archetypal clip successful UK waters.

The Pacific 24 rigid inflatable vessel (Rib), which is usually utilized to intercept drug-runners and instrumentality sailors ashore, was tested without a unit successful Portsmouth Harbour pursuing palmy trials overseas.

It was controlled some autonomously and remotely from the Navy’s experimental vessel XV Patrick Blackett disconnected the Hampshire coast.

A Royal Navy spokesperson said: “The week-long trials pushed the uncrewed vas to its limits with unsmooth seas and adjacent snow, investigating its systems and bundle successful a scope of operational scenarios.

“The autonomous tests saw it pre-programmed to travel definite manoeuvres and directions portion the remotely piloted tests saw it controlled by a Royal Marine utilizing a console connected committee the ship.”

The spokesperson explained that the Autonomous Pacific (Apac) boats could beryllium deployed to transportation retired reconnaissance missions arsenic good arsenic to motorboat weapons and supply extortion against threats portion minimising the hazard to sailors.

He said: “With cameras and sensors connected board, the robot Rib fed backmost a unrecorded camera provender to power units and computers connected XV Patrick Blackett, which could past beryllium analysed.

“Other sensors and weapons could beryllium added to further heighten its usage arsenic a vas for intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance operations with information fed backmost successful real-time.”

Commander Michael Hutchinson, commanding serviceman of XV Patrick Blackett and caput of experimentation of NavyX, the Navy’s squad of autonomous experts, said: “Integrating crewed and uncrewed systems and operating them astatine the aforesaid clip is simply a immense measurement guardant for the Royal Navy.

“This is the archetypal clip a afloat autonomous and crewless vessel has been operated successful UK waters and we person achieved this passim the week successful antithetic conditions and completing a scope of tests.

“It forms the backbone for further integration that aboriginal ships volition person with autonomous technology.

“The trials and experiments we bash volition make the modular operating procedures for the APAC and however to usage uncrewed systems efficaciously for warfighting.”