Paris – Companies around the world have noted the significance of the uncrewed surface vehicle (USV), or sea drone, as could be seen at Euronaval, an international trade show for every kind of military vessel and maritime kit, which ran Nov. 4-7.
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The market potential for the USV stemmed from Ukraine’s necessity proving to be a near mother of maritime invention, with locally built USVs used to deadly effect against the Russian navy in the wake of the 2022 invasion ordered by Moscow.
Ukrainian civilians working in a garage after that Russian incursion allowed Kyiv to deploy USVs cobbled together from remote controlled speed boats with an ad hoc communications link and an explosive warhead.
That effective use against the Russian fleet, seen as one of the world navies, pointed up the sea drone as a weapon which carried a critical marketing label, namely combat proven.
There has been a “technology evolution” on drones, Pierre Eric Pommellet, chairman of Gican, said Oct. 24 in a virtual press conference on Euronaval. Drones were previously mostly in aeronautics, he said, now they were used for surveillance and combat at sea.
That could be seen with maritime drones in the Red Sea and Black Sea, he added.
The Houthis irregular force, based in Yemen, have sailed USVs loaded with explosives to strike commercial shipping and Western warships on patrol in the Red Sea, Reuters reported July 3. The Iranian-backed militia may have been inspired by Ukrainian sea drones, the news agency reported, with the prospect of shipping companies paying higher war risk premiums for sailing in the Red Sea.
Pommellet is also executive chairman of Naval Group, a builder of warships and submarines, is majority held by France. Electronics company Thales holds a minority stake in NG.
MARTAC Adds To Devil Ray Offerings
There were press briefings and announcements on sea drones, which were on display among reduced scale models which included aircraft carriers, frigates, attack submarines, and auxiliary tankers at the show.
Maritime Tactical Systems, or MARTAC, announced Nov. 2 the commercial launch of its Devil Ray T18, an addition to its offerings of Devil Ray USVs. The 5.8-meter sea drone could be used for intelligence, surveillance, and reconnaissance (ISR).
The new sea drone shared a common operating system with the T12 and T24, said Stephen Ferretti, chief marketing officer, and that offered interoperability, with operators moving from one model to another.
The T18 could also operate as part of a swarm, he said. The new sea drone could be transported in a 20-foot box container, allowing stealthy shipping, he said. A standard Conex box container allowed the sea drone to be transported by aircraft such as V-22 Osprey tilt rotor, CH-53 helicopter, or C-130J transport plane.
The T18 offered speed and endurance, with “60 plus” knots, sailing 300 nautical miles and a payload of 750 pounds, he said. The drone, which could sail in sea state of three to five, had undergone months of extensive tests. The USV was due to go into production in 2025.
The drone was equipped with a collision avoidance system, required “very low maintenance,” and the architecture encompassed the use of artificial intelligence, he said. The drone was based on commercially available technologies.
MARTAC, based in Melbourne, Florida, presented its smaller Mantis T12 sea drone at the 2022 Euronaval show.
That Mantis range was designed for littoral or near-littoral use, while the larger Devil Ray range was intended for 300-1,000 nautical miles.
The company had clients operating its USVs in some 12 nations, including the Asia/Pacific.
USVs effectively served as naval scouts, a defense analyst said, capable of feeding data into a warship’s fire control system, such as Aegis. They were “pieces of a puzzle,” he said, providing sensor input to a “mesh network.”
USVs could be launched from the land or from other vessels, serving as extension of the capital ship with “off-board capabilities,” the analyst said.
“Technological change leads to behavioural change,” the analyst said.
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