Scott Nicholas
Leidos has begun operational testing of an autonomous demonstration vessel the company developed through the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency‘s Anti-Submarine Warfare Continuous Trail Unmanned Vessel program.
The company said Tuesday it commenced at-sea tests on Sea Hunter‘s autonomy system, sensors, mission control hardware and software off the coast of San Diego in California as a follow-on to performance trials conducted during the summer.
“The operational testing is designed to showcase the unprecedented capabilities that this type of unmanned vessel could offer our military forces,” said Mike Chagnon, president of Leidos’ advanced solutions group.
Sea Hunter met or surpassed speed, maneuverability, stability, seakeeping, acceleration/deceleration and fuel consumption performance requirements of the DARPA and Office of Naval Research co-sponsored test program during initial performance trials that occurred in July.
DARPA christened the vessel in April at a dockside ceremony held in Portland, Oregon.
