Quick question for anyone who might know (say like, Lex); drone boats? New?
Posted by osklister on June 11, 2026, 17:46:52
Now I'm totally curious: apparently we launched a seagoing rescue craft, didn't drop something into the water from a airplane/helicopter?? And this rescue boat (unmanned) has a range of about 1000 miles??
"" I "" will not claim to be up on all the latest technology. But OTOH, this sure seems like something brand new. Hopefully someone else has more details on this than I do. (Or, ya can tell me I'm an idiot and this shite has been around for ages.) Two of our pilots safe and sound after a missile hit... sounds good to me.
TIA to anyone else interested and smarter than me.
I did an underwater autonomous vehicle transaction 10 years ago. The
technology possessed by the military in this regard is incomprehensible. Countermeasures to prevent enemies from being able to track or chase the US nuclear sub fleet is one of the biggest issues for the military. Countries know the few places where these things port and can try to build virtually undetectable tiny ships that can follow them and then only chirp back if something gets hot (once they transmit a signal their presence becomes immediately known which is why being able to operate autonomously unless called is so critical). If a ship is ever sunk by a torpedo again it will almost certainly come from a UAV that is basically a torpedo transporter and not from a traditional ship. I don't know if the Virginia Class submarines could last a month in a hot war with China, who can manufacture UAVs in breathtaking numbers.
The USN has been working on this stuff for decades because they have so much territory to cover and the consequences of falling behind are so significant.
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Now I'm totally curious: apparently we launched a seagoing rescue craft, didn't drop something into the water from a airplane/helicopter?? And this rescue boat (unmanned) has a range of about 1000 miles??
"" I "" will not claim to be up on all the latest technology. But OTOH, this sure seems like something brand new. Hopefully someone else has more details on this than I do. (Or, ya can tell me I'm an idiot and this shite has been around for ages.) Two of our pilots safe and sound after a missile hit... sounds good to me.
TIA to anyone else interested and smarter than me.
"Iowa women were better than Illini men" - Potomac
Don't think I had ever heard of them until this week.
The old Apollo lunar lander came to mind but... a takeoff from water?
I guess that's why that guy got the big bucks. His imagination didn't fail like mine did. With that said, the range of this boat is kinda wild I guess.
on June 11, 2026, 17:46:52
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