Free Republic

The surface warfare module for the U.S. Navy's new LCS (Littoral Combat Ships) will contain an unusual collection of weapons. The only familiar item will be a MH-60R (a navalized Blackhawk) helicopter, armed with a 12.7mm machine-gun and Hellfire missiles (with a range of 8 kilometers). There will be three other aircraft, all RQ-8A Fire Scout UAVs. Each of these is a 1.5 ton unmanned helicopter, that will be armed with 70mm laser guided DAGR missiles. These 25 pound missiles have a range of six kilometers. There will be two 23 foot long Spartan USVs (unmanned surface vehicles), each armed...

The U.S. Navy and Coast Guard have expressed interest in the 30-ft.-long Protector, which comes mounted with a machine gun and could be retrofitted for commercial use. Robots versus pirates -- it's not as stupid, or unlikely, as it sounds. Piracy has exploded in the waters near Somalia, where this past week United States warships have fired on two pirate skiffs, and are currently in pursuit of a hijacked Japanese-owned vessel. At least four other ships in the region remain under pirate control, and the problem appears to be going global: The International Maritime Bureau is tracking a 14-percent increase...

Rafael markets “Protector” unmanned boat in US The unmanned naval patrol vehicle is the only one of its kind in the world Ran Dagoni, Washington 25 Jun 06 17:03 Rafael Armament Development Authority Ltd. launched one of its largest marketing efforts in the US last week for its Protector unmanned naval patrol vehicle to the US Navy and Department of Homeland Security. The Protector is the first boat of its kind in the world. Rafael USA VP business development Dr. Patrick Bar-Avi, a senior company engineer, told “Globes” that the Protector held its first performance demonstration at Tampa Bay, Florida,...

Increased attention to homeland security has resulted in a new focus on protecting the nearly 400 US ports. MRV International, an innovative marine technology company, is providing state-of-the-art software and hardware for robotic USVs (unmanned surface vessels) to man the US's harbours and waterways. Operating as autonomous marine robotic platforms, the USVs use MRV's new-generation software for remote command and control, navigation, route planning, event and crisis management, onboard diagnostics and other functions. Linked with broadband wireless telemetry, the USVs can be operated from virtually anywhere in the world via the Internet. To identify terrorism threats, the USVs can be...