Vigor Industrial Seahunter USV

Overview:

As a part of the DARPA Anti-Submarine Warfare Continuous Trail Unmanned Vessel (ACTUV) program, the autonomous unmanned surface vehicle (USV) known as Sea Hunter was introduced in 2016. During the testing phase, a portable operator control station was installed “for safety and backup” until it can be established that the ship can reliably operate on her own. This system is known as sparse supervisory control, which means that the person in charge is not “joy sticking” the ship about. Without human supervision, the system can patrol and use optical navigation and radar to steer clear of obstructions and other boats.^[1]Defense News, ‘Unmanned Sub-Hunter To Begin Test Program’, https://www.defensenews.com/pentagon/2016/04/07/unmanned-sub-hunter-to-begin-test-program/ Sea Hunter was ‘designed, developed and constructed to provide an entirely new class of ocean-going vessel—one intended to traverse thousands of kilometers over the open seas for months at a time, all without a single crew member aboard.’^[2]Vigor, ‘Autonomous Vessels’, https://vigor.net/projects/sea-hunter The Sea Hunter has been involved in a number of US Naval tests.^[3]USNI News, ‘New Navy Unmanned Command Will Send 4 Experimental Large USVs to RIMPAC’, https://news.usni.org/2022/05/17/new-navy-unmanned-command-will-send-4-experimental-large-usvs-to-rimpac

Autonomy:

Automated collision avoidance, automated identification system which uses ‘sensor and radar data together to identify position, course and speed, ultimately enabling more efficient communication between ships at sea.’

Other:

‘High-resolution stereo and 360° electro-optic/infrared (EO/IR) sensor systems ensure safe navigation and situational awareness during day/night lighting conditions. Long-range mid-frequency active-passive sonar on board the vessel detects and classifies the targets.’