Naval battles of the future will be gray, wet, and lacking in humans. DARPA, the Pentagon’s far-future projects wing, mentioned last week that it plans to test its completely unmanned, 132-foot-long submarine tracker ACTUV in the waters off Portland, Oregon later this spring. Today, we got a first glimpse over the vessel itself, from DARPA’s Twitter and Instagram accounts.
Let’s take a look at ACTUV, short for “ASW Continuous Trail Unmanned Vessel,” throughout its development from concept to reality.
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This gets the general shape and function of ACTUV: it’s a ship, it hunts submarines. Fine, but uninspiring.
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ACTUV gets a little more definition in this video, but it’s still just a gray eraser looking for submarines.
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Still concept art, but this shows ACTUV as though Lisa Frank turned her devotion away from pastel kittens and surreal space dolphins to glistening gray robot warships.
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The vessel itself! Especially worth noting: the life preserver and glass windows on the bridge. ACTUV may be all about unmanned boats, but it at least gives the appearance of being a boat that carries humans. From DARPA’s Instagram caption: >Technicians supporting DARPA’s Anti-Submarine Warfare Continuous Trail Unmanned Vessel (ACTUV) program make final preparations for lift-point testing and moving the prototype vessel, dubbed “Sea Hunter,” to the water prior to sea trials commencing this spring.
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The back of the beast! Ladders, for all the humans it doesn’t carry, and propellers, for all the water it moves. From DARPA’s Instagram caption: >Technicians supporting DARPA’s Anti-Submarine Warfare Continuous Trail Unmanned Vessel (ACTUV) program make final preparations for lift-point testing and moving the prototype vessel, dubbed “Sea Hunter,” to the water prior to sea trials commencing this spring.
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This small, unmanned catamaran is the size of a private luxury vessel, though it looks far, far more severe. Gray metal on gray water on gray sky is a pretty somber look. From DARPA’s Instagram: >A prototype vessel from DARPA’s Anti-Submarine Warfare Continuous Trail Unmanned Vessel (ACTUV) program was recently moved to the water prior to sea trials commencing this spring.
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Here’s what the ship looks like head-on in the water. From DARPA’s Instagram: >A prototype vessel from DARPA’s Anti-Submarine Warfare Continuous Trail Unmanned Vessel (ACTUV) program was recently moved to the water prior to sea trials commencing this spring.
