According to Austal USA, these new designs reflect the company’s ability to generate forward thinking customized surface ship solutions affordable to the U.S. Navy.
These flexible unmanned and autonomous surface vessels are driven by data analytics and incorporate artificial intelligence and machine learning. Vessels range in size from 30 to 110 meters in length providing both mid and large size solutions.
According to Austal USA, these platforms are tailored to meet the U.S. Navy’s emerging and evolving autonomous requirements to provide the fleet with increased lethality and intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance capability. The ship’s networked capacity makes it a perfect fit for distributed lethality.
Depending on requirements, Austal USA’s USV may be fitted with VLS, self-defense weapons, over the horizon, berthing for optionally manned requirements, support of unmanned systems, fuelling at sea, VERTREP…
Naval News learned during SAS 2019 that Austal USA responded to the US Navy RFI for large USV with an autonomous variant of its EPF design.
Austal USA’s autonomous ship specifications
Hull: Catamaran/Trimaran
Length overall: 131-361 ft (40-110m)
Beam overall: 43-95 ft (13-29m)
Draft full load: 5-13 ft (1.5-4m)
Full load displacement: 260-2500 metric tons
Speed: >35 knots
Range @16 knots: >10,000 nautical miles
Endurance: >90 days autonomous operations
