It’s time to prepare for autonomy

The Navy's uncrewed surface vessel Ranger transits the Pacific Ocean during an exercise in September 2023. U.S. Navy photo.

As part of our Career Connect Washington Maritime Sector ongoing work, we actively track, document, and inform about emerging technologies and trends. The U.S. Navy is mulling a dramatic — if not unprecedented — build-up of autonomous platforms. It is great to see the Navy consider sailing high-tech robotic warships alongside conventional warships, but these visions must come with a caution. Unless the Navy starts experimenting at scale soon, the U.S. waterfront will be unready to accommodate wide-ranging fleets of autonomous watercraft.

Without operational preparation, port stakeholders at the state, local, and federal levels will put this new fleet at risk. Right now, as Pentagon bureaucrats trade PowerPoint slides, a fleet of armed, 150' autonomous surface vessels (ASV) looks like a massive manufacturing “win” for hungry shipbuilders. It is a great vision, but, once these robots start showing up, needing maintenance — or even just basic things like, say, mooring spots — this enormous shipbuilding initiative will collapse.

Go to this link to read the full article published by WorkBoat https://www.workboat.com/its-time-to-prepare-for-autonomy?