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The future of warfare is autonomous.
To compete with China,
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particularly in the Taiwan Strait, the US
Department of Defense has been ramping up
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development of autonomous boats.
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But according to an exclusive Reuters report,
things could be better.
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The US Navy recently conducted a test of
autonomous drone boats off the California coast
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that was meant to promote the Pentagon’s
prowess.
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During that test, one of the vessels stalled as
the team worked to fix a software bug.
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Another vessel T-boned it.
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Reuters actually managed to get their hands on
footage of the accidents,
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yet it hit it,
hit it real good, boom!
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Got him.
The boats were made by rival contractors,
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Austin, Texas-based Seronic Technologies, and
Baltimore, Maryland-based Black Sea
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Technologies.
According to the report, building this
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autonomous fleet has been no easy feat, and a
combination of software and human errors have
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led to other accidents.
Part of the problem is getting these systems to
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talk to one another, which is important for a.
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The military, hoping these autonomous swarms can
be truly autonomous,
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and these vessels are pricey.
Each one can cost millions.
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Still, it’s a relatively new technology that
the DOD is trying to ramp up amid personnel
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changes with the new administration, as well as
acquisitions.
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For example, about 4 months ago, Seronic bought
Gulf Craft,
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a Louisiana-based shipbuilder, to accelerate
its
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shipbuilding capabilities.
The deal gave Seronic a shipyard on the Gulf
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Coast that it will use as the prototyping and
production hub for its medium unmanned surface
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vessel fleet, starting with Marauder,
Seronic’s 150 ft autonomous surface vessel.
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The technology is a top priority for the Trump
administration, which has earmarked nearly $5
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billion for maritime autonomous systems.
I’m David Manti.
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This is Manufacturing Now.