Trident Warrior 09 – Send in the Drones?

June 20, 2009 · Filed Under Current, Lore of the Sea, Ships 

I am torn between thinking that this is fascinating new technology and on the other hand that this sort of  project explains why the military expenditures continue to run out of control.  Thanks to Alaric Bond for the heads up.

From Mars to Norfolk: NASA technology could serve on the high seas

To improve maritime security, the American military might take its cue from the Mars Rover. But unlike NASA’s workmanlike retriever, the Navy wants a guard dog that can approach pirates and drug runners with an attitude.  And on Thursday, a version of it was prowling the waters off Naval Station Norfolk.

It is one of more than 90 technologies included in a grand-scale sea experiment known as Trident Warrior 09, which examines the latest combat tools with the aim of speeding development to the battlefield.

The focus of the demonstration was a small watercraft powered by high-tech software that allows it to operate without humans on board. (For test purposes, the craft had a crew to ensure safety and gather data.)

One obvious benefit of an unmanned patrol drone is safety. It can take photos and gather data from potentially dangerous ships without risking lives, Hansen said. It can zoom in on an innocent-looking fishing boat – off the coast of Somalia, for instance – to see if the crew is carrying AK-47s or rocket-propelled grenades.

But unlike aerial drones that require a human pilot, you don’t need someone back at headquarters jiggling a remote control.

It does not fire weapons, but its intelligence-gathering capabilities can be versatile, said Rick Simon, director of Spatial Integrated Systems Inc., which collaborated on the project.

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Comments

2 Responses to “Trident Warrior 09 – Send in the Drones?”

  1. Chris Watson on June 20th, 2009 12:10 pm

    Autonomous vehicles and vessels are definitely leaving the realm of sci-fi and entering the here-and-now. Similar ground-based technology is already in use for security in ports, harbors, and airports. Take a look at http://www.frontlinerobotics.com for an example. It’s not quite Terminator-esque but these robots and marine patrol drones definitely raise some very interesting and moderately scary questions.

  2. Rick on June 20th, 2009 9:04 pm

    It does raise some very intriguing and scary questions. I came across and interesting attempt to write software or autonomous drones. Ethics Training For Deadly Drones I am still not fully convinced that much of this is a good idea.

    Thanks for your comment.

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