US Navy drones buy marine Sea Hunter

The american program to create the surface of the actuv drone has reached a new stage. On the website of the naval institute, the U.S. Navy has information that the us military is preparing to sign contracts for the future purchase of unmanned vehicles sea hunter. Actuv (anti-submarine warfare continuous trail unmanned vessel) — surface uav with a high degree of autonomy (may be in patrol mode for several months). The first unit was commissioned in 2012, and four years later he started to pass tests.

In february last year ended the sea trials of the drone, called the sea hunter ("Sea hunter"), and then tested the sonar, and has also been tested the possibility of long autonomous work. The main purpose of the actuv program is to develop an effective means to detect diesel-electric submarines in coastal waters. The cost of the first machine amounted to $23 million (the next will cost no more than $20 million per unit). Sea hunter length is 42 m, full displacement — 145 tons, of which 40 tons are fuel costs.

On sea trials the robot was speeded up to 27 knots (50 km/h), despite the fact that its speed is affected by many factors (fuel, direction and speed of wind, height of waves). The developers claim that the actuv will be able to withstand the sea state of 7 points ("Strong emotion" on a scale the world meteorological organization). The us navy has already prepared the contract for construction of second instance sea hunter (the contract value is estimated at $25 million) and negotiations are underway to build a third robot hunter submarines. Sea hunter is equipped with the latest sensors, radars and sonars, which allow to detect and classify undersea and surface targets. Theoretically, the duration of a single sea could be three months, after which the robot will require refueling and basic maintenance. The actuv robot will patrol in conjunction with anti-submarine aircraft p-8 poseidon, the unmanned mq-4c triton and a special sonar buoys. In addition, desert trimarans will maintain constant communication with military ships and other aircraft, reports "Warspot".