Underwater drone
The Royal Australian Navy has signed a contract with defense contractor Anduril company (USA) for the development and construction of large underwater drone the size of a bus — XL-AUV.
It will be a multifunctional platform where you will install several types of equipment to perform a range of tasks in Autonomous mode up to one week, starting from reconnaissance to monitor underwater infrastructure. As reported in Anduril, the project cost is estimated at $ 100 million. It is planned to develop three versions of XL-AUV. The company intends to meet in three years and, if possible, to save money. However, it will have something to "sacrifice" — in particular, the tightness. In other words, the developers intend to abandon watertight hull. However, this is a fairly common design. According to experts of the company Nautilus Drydocks (specialization — development of underwater vehicles with remote control — approx. ed Techcult), pack the stuffing underwater drone in the sealed housing is difficult and creates unnecessary inconvenience with the service. It is much easier to abandon its waterproof case, but to place inside of it the individual modules of the UAV in a sealed package. For example, if one of them fails, it will be easier to replace than the whole "wet" equipment. In the case of XL-AUV all his engineering filling will be placed in several sealed, pressure-resistant housings-size gas cylinder.