The Future is Now: Robotic Vessels for Military and Industrial Use

Newport This Week
By John Pantalone

What once seemed like science fiction has become reality, from aerial drone photography to attack drones. Soon enough, the sea will become an active zone for uncrewed surface vessels (USVs) and underwater ones as well. In fact, the field of USVs has been emerging slowly for decades and has begun to speed up.

At a recent talk in Newport, the co-founder of a Rhode Island company launched in January, called Havoc AI, described plans for autonomous vessels they hope to have in full production by the end of 2024.

“New England is a hub of technological talent, especially Rhode Island,” Andrew Gregg told an audience on July 31 at Innovate Newport as part of a “Blue Tech Talk” series sponsored by the Greater Newport Chamber of Commerce.

Describing the remotely operated vessels to the audience, Gregg brought home the surprising reality of USVs and their value in research, surveillance and a variety of commercial uses. But as others have done, he mentioned the impetus given to the USV industry by Ukraine’s use of them to attack Russian naval ships in the Black Sea. Like other emerging weapons, their early success in warfare spurs large scale development.

The “Rampage” small USV has an overall length of 14 feet, and is designed to carry 300 pounds of payload for 150 nautical miles. With the current all-electric powerplant, it has a top speed of 15 knots, appoximently 17 mph.

Ukraine achieved surprising success against the Russian vessels using “kamikaze” USVs loaded with explosives. Many similar vessels were designed and built by Turkish companies, according to a March 2024 report in National Defense magazine. But Turkey is hardly the only U.S. competitor. Gregg said that development of USVs in the United States would help in competing with China both industrially and militarily.

According to the National Oceanographic and Atmospheric Administration, military uses only scratch the surface of the value created by USVs. As Gregg pointed out, USVs are more efficient than traditional vessels for all sorts of missions. On a research level, NOAA reports on its website that USVs can conduct ocean-mapping and collect oceanographic and atmospheric data at lower operational cost with less manpower. NOAA has used USVs for research and data collection for close to 20 years, soon after production of such vessels began in earnest.

In introducing his company’s design, Gregg described what he called a “Team to Play” mission assignment paradigm. The company’s current vessels range from a base vessel that can travel up to 150 nautical miles and an extended range vessel that doubles that reach. The base vessel can travel at up to 10 knots, while the extended range boat can do 15 knots. They are also working on an Interceptor model that can achieve speeds up to 35 knots.

The first two are powered via solar panels installed on the decks. The Interceptor will be gas-powered, so they are still determining its range. The solar-powered USVs have a 315-watt peak solar array for what Gregg says is “unlimited loitering endurance.” The boats are designed to hunt, stalk and intercept vessels, but they are also capable of being programmed to perform a variety of tasks in a commercial setting. Gregg said the commercial sector is just now coming to USVs as a technology possible of cutting their costs and manpower needs.

Based in Providence, Havoc AI is designing vessels that resemble a motorboat that looks like it has a 1940s science fiction movie flying saucer on the back half of the deck. As NOAA explains, the shape and design of USVs depend on their function. Companies like Havoc AI test designs to see how they accomplish particular functions related to what they need to do, where they have to go and how long they take to accomplish the function.

“Our construction is scalable and automated,” Gregg said. “The boats have onboard autonomy with one person able to manage up to 1,000 vessels at a time.”

He referred to their system as a “game design” that controls speed, movement and data collection. Deployment and recovery of the USVs can be done via dinghy, dolly, lift, ramp, beach, launching system or over the side of ships where the USVs are stacked, Gregg said.

Other companies are producing everything from sail-powered drone boats to fully equipped vessels that carry aerial drones that can be released and returned. For instance, NOAA says that sail drones can operate efficiently in harsh and remote environments for extended periods of time.

Some larger USVs have a hybrid existence since they can be managed remotely but also by personnel on board. Earlier this year a sail drone captured data from inside a hurricane for the first time. NOAA also describes Wave Gliders as vessels that use wave energy for propulsion and solar for recharging electronic systems and sensors so they can travel hundreds of miles and operate for up to one year.