The US Navy is actively moving to arming ships with drones. Today, January 15, the portal navaltoday.com he reported that the prototype of a large surface drone successfully passed a number of tests and even participated in military exercises.
The Ghost Fleet Overlord program, also known as LUSV, has proven itself ready for deployment in the armed forces. During the latest tests, the prototype drone traveled more than 4,700 miles in autonomous mode, after which it joined the US Navy exercises, where it also covered almost 1,000 miles without the intervention of the crew.
Prototype of the LUSV Ghost Fleet Overlord program unmanned ship based on a commercial vessel
Image Source: navaltoday.com
The Office of Strategic Capabilities (SCO) of the US Department of Defense indicates that the surface drone does not just follow a straight line. The autonomous control system allows you to avoid collisions, and also operates within the framework of maritime regulations. Remote control of the unmanned ship was required only when it passed the Panama Canal on its way from the Gulf coast to the coast of California.
Since September last year, the Ghost Fleet Overlord program has moved to the second stage, when the ship is equipped with combat systems and government control systems. By the end of this year, the contractor must transfer the first two samples to a special unit of the US Navy Surface Development Squadron One for further testing.
LUSV is part of a large-scale program to create an unmanned fleet of Unmanned Surface Vessel (USV). The MUSV (Medium Unmanned Surface Vehicles) LUSV (Large Unmanned Surface Vehicles) and XLUUV (Extra-Large Unmanned Undersea Vehicles) programs should mark the beginning of a full-fledged unmanned fleet capable of operating autonomously for a long time (including during combat operations).
