Fundamentals Of Unmanned Surface Vessel

By Brian Green


Accomplishments at sea are among main issues that have been troubling researchers and navy personnel as far as the Second World War. The research that ensued in this area after the war has led to the development of the unmanned surface vessel also termed as autonomous surface vehicle. Abbreviations ASV and USV are often used. This is a relatively new technology and this writing discusses some basics about it.

Like it is suggested in the name, autonomous surface vehicles are a kind of water vessel that can be propagated into the water without a crew onboard. This technology makes use of tele-operation where it is tele-operated by a crew ashore or on other manned water vessels. This way, risks to human beings is reduced significantly. However, this technology has been found not to necessarily optimize the utilization of personnel.

Immediately World War Two ended, work on the USV started and many countries participated. Israel pioneered this area of warfare by developing several prototypes that were developed into finished vehicles. By the year 2005, Israel had a fully functional USV in its waters. Most first-world countries currently maintain several units of these devices and they use them for various purposes both domestically and internationally.

Before adoption into the navy, these vehicles were mainly in use by academic institutions and research facilities. Researchers and scholars primarily used them for studying sea life and sea forms. These devices allowed for deep travels into the sea for longer periods of time. Many discoveries were made as research became easier.

With the military adopting USVs, their complexity and uses drastically changed. Today, the navy uses them for a wide variety of applications including mine sweeping, area access denial, harbor security, vessel protection, surveillance, anti-submarine warfare, protection of critical infrastructure, and search and rescue operations among many others. As complexity increases and features are included, more applications are discovered.

In most USVs, the hull and other parts remain submerged under water with only a mast protruding out. The mast is used for communication with the base station and air intake. This kind of design is very advantageous because it allows for use of internal combustion propulsion systems, excellent passive stability, and large payload volumes. The vehicle has good offensive capability where it includes a system that can identify, target, and fire on targets both at sea, air, and on land.

Initially, these devices relied on liquid fuel for propulsion. This often limited their range and period they could stay in the water without the need to refill. Thus, research was started on renewable energy sources such as wind, solar, and more recently wave energy. A small number of vessels that use wind and solar have been produced by most countries.

So far, most USVs are made with sizes ranging from small to medium. They are the same size as recreational watercrafts, measuring from 2-15 meters in length and displacing between 1.5 and 10 tons of water. Communication is often through wireless platforms.




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