By Brian Green


The navy and research facilities have been pushing the limits in what they can accomplish in the water since the end of the Second World War. One of the accomplishments of the hard work was the invention of the unmanned surface vessel also commonly referred to as autonomous surface vehicle. The abbreviations USV and ASV are normally used respectively. This article discusses some basic information about this relatively new water technology in terms of application and features.

Like it is suggested in the name, autonomous surface vehicles are a kind of water vessel that can be propagated into the water without a crew onboard. This technology makes use of tele-operation where it is tele-operated by a crew ashore or on other manned water vessels. This way, risks to human beings is reduced significantly. However, this technology has been found not to necessarily optimize the utilization of personnel.

Immediately World War Two ended, work on the USV started and many countries participated. Israel pioneered this area of warfare by developing several prototypes that were developed into finished vehicles. By the year 2005, Israel had a fully functional USV in its waters. Most first-world countries currently maintain several units of these devices and they use them for various purposes both domestically and internationally.

Before adoption into the navy, these vehicles were mainly in use by academic institutions and research facilities. Researchers and scholars primarily used them for studying sea life and sea forms. These devices allowed for deep travels into the sea for longer periods of time. Many discoveries were made as research became easier.

When the military started to adopt USVs, they were made more sophisticated and their uses were changed. Today, these vehicles are used for applications such as mine sweeping, harbor security, area access denial, vessel protection, protection of critical infrastructure, surveillance, and anti-submarine warfare among others. More uses are being discovered as the complexity increases.

Most models of USVs have the whole body submerged below the water with only a mast showing up. The mast serves to enable communication with base stations and to take in air. This design presents several advantages to the navy in particular because it allows for large payload volumes, excellent passive stability, and employment of internal combustion propulsion systems. The models used for offensive missions include systems for identifying, targeting, and firing on targets on land, sea, and air.

Initially, these devices relied on liquid fuel for propulsion. This often limited their range and period they could stay in the water without the need to refill. Thus, research was started on renewable energy sources such as wind, solar, and more recently wave energy. A small number of vessels that use wind and solar have been produced by most countries.

So far, most USVs range in size from small to medium. Most of them are similar in size to recreational watercrafts, that is, from 2-15 meters long and displacing 1.5-10 tons of water. They rely on wireless communication with base stations. They also incorporate sensor data collection systems.




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