American shipbuilder Metal Shark has introduced a new “rapidly producible” unmanned surface vessel (USV) engineered for autonomous naval operations with human-in-the-loop control.
The surface vessel has been designed to offer the US Armed Forces and allies a low-cost multi-payload USV solution that can be rapidly produced and quickly fielded to meet emergent needs.
Priced below $500,000 per unit, the 21-foot (6.4-meter) High-Speed Maneuverable Unmanned Surface Vessel (HSMUSV) is based on the Relentless-class monohull design used by the US Navy as High-Speed Maneuvering Surface Targets (HSMST).
“We’ve delivered the manned HSMST to the Navy at the pace of up to three units per week,” Chris Allard, CEO of Metal Shark, said in a press release.
“Based on current capacity with this active production line, we can deliver the HSMUSV at the rate of one unit per day.”
Fast, scalable naval solution
The HSMUSV was developed to provide the US Armed Forces and allied nations with a cost-effective, multi-mission unmanned surface vessel that can be rapidly manufactured and swiftly deployed to address urgent operational requirements.
The surface vessel is making its debut at the Sea-Air-Space symposium in National Harbor, Maryland, this week. The three-day event will culminate on Wednesday.
The autonomous vessel boasts a range of more than 500 nautical miles (575 miles/926 kilometers) and can reach speeds close to 40 knots (46 miles/74 kilometers per hour).
The HSMUSV may be equipped with a range of diesel and gasoline propulsion systems. As equipped, the vessel boasts a range of over 500 nautical miles while cruising at 25 knots, with a top speed approaching 40 knots. At lower speeds, a loitering time of approximately ten days is achievable.
As opposed to the technology-retrofit approach taken in most USV conversions, the vessel features cutting-edge hardware and software developed by Metal Shark’s SharkTech Unmanned Systems division.
These systems provide remote operators with an intuitive command-and-control interface that enhances situational awareness.
The onboard SharkTech systems also support seamless integration with a variety of software packages and artificial intelligence platforms.
Built for mission flexibility
The SharkTech system offers remote operators an intuitive graphical interface for command-and-control and situational awareness.
It delivers real-time vessel telemetry, contact information, mission status, and video feeds while transmitting operator commands to the vessel via both line-of-sight (HF radio) and beyond-line-of-sight (Starlink satellite) links.
The system also securely transmits this data through a VPN tunnel for integration into headquarters operations.
Operators can manage the HSMUSV from desktop systems in operations centers or through a portable helm control station.
“Providing an end-to-end hardware and software solution allows the interface with other autonomy packages to be limited to computer code loading and configuration,” Allard explained.
“However, HSMUSV is a brand-agnostic platform and will readily support most available autonomy systems in place of our own SharkTech system.”
The unmanned surface vessel can host a variety of payloads, such as tethered or untethered unmanned aerial vehicle systems, explosive charges, munitions, or surveillance systems, which are hosted and operated via the vessel’s native software system.