and now... Weaponized drone boats: US Navy unveils fleet of unmanned patrol boats

[cali]

Norfolk, Va. — Self-guided unmanned patrol boats that can leave warships they're protecting and swarm and attack potential threats on the water could join the Navy's fleet within a year, defense officials say, adding the new technology could one day help stop attacks like the deadly 2000 bombing of the USS Cole off Yemen.

The Arlington-based Office of Naval Research demonstrated the autonomous swarm boat technology over two weeks in August on the James River near Fort Eustis in Virginia – not far from one of the Navy's largest fleet concentration areas. It said the Navy simulated a transit through a strait, just like the routine passage of US warships through the Strait of Hormuz in the Persian Gulf.

In the demonstrations, as many as 13 small unmanned patrol boats were escorting a high-value Navy ship. Then as many as eight of the self-guided vessels broke off and swarmed around a threat when a ship playing the part of an enemy vessel was detected, the office said, calling the demonstrations a success.

The rigid-hull inflatable patrol boats can also fire .50 caliber machine guns if called upon to do so. However, a human will always be the one to make the decision to use lethal force, officials said. A sailor on a command ship would be in charge of each of the unmanned boats and could take control over any of the boats at any moment. And if communication between the unmanned boats and the sailor overseeing them were ever broken, the boat would automatically shut down.

<snip>

http://www.csmonitor.com/USA/Latest-News-Wires/2014/1005/US-Navy-unveils-fleet-of-unmanned-patrol-boats

[edhopper]

1. Why not

Skynet needs all the terminators it can get.

[Feral Child]

2. Well, why the fuck not?

It's not like anything could possibly go wrong.





(sarcasm, o/c)

[NYC_SKP]

3. Use 'em to take out pirates off Somalia and elsewhere.

Arrrrgghhh!

[peace13]

4. As a sailor on the Great Lakes...

Who is continually approached by Homeland 'Security', I find this information frightening! The perpetual war loving killers have won. We no longer have the freedom to move about the country without fear of being killed by a trigger finger housed thousands of miles from us!

[dixiegrrrrl]

10. I would like to know more about" continually approached by Homeland 'Security',

because I have read elsewhere the same complaint by boaters in Fla.

[peace13]

11. Before the sequester every time we sailed over the US, Canadian border...

HS would swoop up from the stern and ask where we had been, how many on board, if we had more than 10K on board. They follow the boat and continue to question until they are satisfied. I am guessing we have had this done to us over fifteen times. The law is that the boaters either have I68 forms that allow them to call in to customs /border upon arrival or that the boat stops at a video check point before docking in the US. If the US boat does not anchor or dock in Canada while in Canadian water it does not have to report in.

Private fishing vessels have been continually boarded by state and federal agencies. Ohio finally changed the law for State agencies that reads that vessel safety checks were to be done at the request of the skipper only unless there was some outward and apparent violation of the law. The heavy hand of State, Local and Federal agencies has had an impact on fishing / tourism on the lake.

HS runs boats on the Detroit River and Lake Erie without running lights.This is dangerous and illegal for everyone else. I have witnessed this and my friends have been boarded by such a vessel. My friends totally freaked out because they thought they were being robbed.

Just three weeks ago there was a storm blowing in at sundown and a boat with three people on board was adrift. Three miles from this endangered vessel two HS boats were in the marina where we were. They were practicing docking . There was no attempt to look for the individuals that were in danger. Neither the Coast Guard or these HS folks went out to help. Tow Boat US eventually found the boat. It is pretty apparent that neither of these agencies focus on the safety of Americans at this time.

There was talk a while back about installing an elaborate camera system at the east end of Lake Erie. HS would use it to monitor boaters. I am not certain if the West end is already outfitted but from what I have read HS is using this system in some areas already. I don't have a link but a google on HS camera at Erie, PA would give some info.

HS moves their 'troops' around. We get officers from FL and CA. They bring their Miami Vice tactics to Ohio. I am guessing the Ohio people get passed on as well. At any rate it is pretty wild on the water. You can not refuse to be boarded and the feds don't have to have a reason.

Each season is another lesson for us all. Hope this helps! Kim

[dixiegrrrrl]

15. They are looking to seize the boats, I figure

based on the question "if we had more than 10K on board."

John Oliver did a good piece on police theft of people's money, the figures he gave out were phenomenal.
He quoted this article from the Washington Post:

Aggressive police take hundreds of millions of dollars from motorists not charged with crimes
http://www.washingtonpost.com/sf/investigative/2014/09/06/stop-and-seize/

and showed some video of a police dept. rep. admitting they basically jacked up drivers whenever they needed some $$$ for something.

[peace13]

16. I saw that.

Pretty frightening? I don't want to see the answer to 'how far will they go?'

[badtoworse]

20. US Customs has required declaration of carrying more than $10k in cash for decades.

It's right there on the form. No excuse for the traffic cops or HS to steal.

[CrispyQ]

5. We sure couldn't have spent that money better, could we?

[EX500rider]

6. Allowing military technology to stagnate can be a bad thing though..

...as US pilots flying Brewster Buffalos against Zeros found out the hard way in WWII.

[stevenleser]

7. Ugh, I remember reading about that. Flying cannon fodder. Target practice for Japanese pilots.

And the brave US pilots flying the Buffalos knew it and went up anyway.

[EX500rider]

9. I think too many people don't know the differance between "remotely piloted"..

.....and "artificial intelligence"

The rigid-hull inflatable patrol boats can also fire .50 caliber machine guns if called upon to do so. However, a human will always be the one to make the decision to use lethal force, officials said. A sailor on a command ship would be in charge of each of the unmanned boats and could take control over any of the boats at any moment. And if communication between the unmanned boats and the sailor overseeing them were ever broken, the boat would automatically shut down.

[peace13]

12. What could possibly go wrong here? nt

[EX500rider]

14. Whats the difference between picking out a target from a screen on a boat/plane..

....or picking it out on a screen at a remote location?

[peace13]

17. Well for one thing...

Hidden away in the bowels of a building, blowing people away and then eating your lunch and heading home to the fam. I would think that it would be a pretty hard adjustment. Is this real life , a video or a simulator? Pretty soon taking a life is nothing! Stinks to be the man, woman or child that gets killed in this fashion!

[NightWatcher]

8. As a kayaker who used to paddle nearish to the naval base...

I give this a thumbs down.

[snooper2]

13. I was building those 30 years ago...radio controlled boat and some bottle rockets

Used to put long fuses so I could attack my sister and her boyfriend when they were "playing" in the creek behind the house

[Baclava]

19. I saw you

[MohRokTah]

18. This is a superb advancement in naval technology.

I salute the Navy for moving forward on this. These could be easily used as safeguard vehicles when harboring at unsafe ports, like the one where this happened:



If the U.S.S. Cole had just a couple of these running as guards, the attack might have been avoided.

I'm all for technology that protects our soldiers, sailors, airmen, and marines.