The U.S. Navy provided the media a glimpse of its Sea Hunter II drone warship that is expected to join its fleet by the end of 2020, CNBC reported Wednesday.
“Everything has to be completely automated and redundant because there is nobody on board to fix it,†Dan Brintzinghoffer, vice president of maritime business development at Leidos, said of the autonomous warship.
Leidos is working with United States Marine to develop Sea Hunter II at a facility in Gulfport, Miss., under a contract awarded in 2017.
“Right now we are about six months from the water,†said Barry Dreyfus, CEO of United States Marine. “This long and skinny hull means it will cut through the water with less drag and be able to stay out at sea for a long time.â€
Donnelly Bohan, VP and division manager of maritime systems at Leidos, said the Navy is looking at options for missions and payloads it can integrate onto the vessel.