DARPA completes construction of an automatic submarine hunter

The Agency for Advanced Defense Research and Development of the United States DARPA next year will begin testing an autonomous vessel designed to detect and track submarines. The ship’s ability to destroy enemy ships in automatic mode is not directly postulated, but it is not refuted either.

The project is called the Anti-Submarine Warfare Continuous Trail Unmanned Vessel ( ACTUV ). It was launched in 2010, and in 2014, DARPA signed an agreement with the US Department of Marine Research on co-financing the project.

The construction of the 140-ton 45-meter ship is already 90% complete. According to Pentagon Directive, fully autonomous devices cannot be equipped with systems that use deadly weapons. In this regard, the ACTUV description page does not directly speak of equipping this marine drone with means for destroying submarines.



However, it mentions the ability of ACTUV to carry a “payload” and use “independently operating systems”. The ship is also compared with the destroyer - in particular, it is indicated that the daily maintenance of the destroyer costs taxpayers $ 700,000, while the planned cost of the ACTUV work will fluctuate between $ 15,000 - $ 20,000.

ACTUV Program Manager Scott Littlefield describes on the project pageits alleged capabilities. An autonomous vessel will have to independently work at sea for months without human intervention. At the same time, his movements must take into account the presence of other vessels, and obey the maritime laws and conventions, ensuring their safety. In addition to the main task of detecting and tracking submarines, they plan to use ACTUV in “a number of different missions,” including to counter sea mines.

The active development of an autonomous submarine hunter in the United States coincided with the activation of the Russian navy. In the same 2010, when the ACTUV project was launched, the first diesel-electric submarine of project 636.3, Novorossiysk, was laid at the facilities of Admiralty Shipyards . And in April 2015, the fourth was launchedsubmarine of the series, Krasnodar.

Project 636 “Varshavyanka” and this modernized version of it are the Russian development of the Soviet project 877 “Halibut”. According to NATO classification, the boats of two projects are called Kilo. The upgraded submarines of Project 636.3 received increased diesel generator power, full underwater speed and cruising range in diesel operation mode under water. According to the Russian military, the submarines of project 636.3 are the quietest submarines in the world.



And in September, the American press, citing sources in the Pentagon , reported on an autonomous submarine under construction in Russia, capable of carrying missiles with nuclear warheads. According to the newspaper, the characteristics of the allegedly developing Canyon system will allow it to attack key bases of American submarines.