WORLD NEWS FOR MONTENEGRO DIASPORA
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AUTHOR:M.J. GDNUS
During a US Navy test last month off the coast of California, designed to showcase the Pentagon’s flagship autonomous drone ships, one vessel suddenly shut down.
As officials scrambled to fix a software glitch, another drone ship hit the stationary ship on the starboard side, flew overboard and ended up back in the sea. The incident was captured in footage obtained by Reuters.
The previously unknown incident, involving two ships built by US defense rivals Saronic and BlackSea Technologies, is just one of a series of recent problems in the Pentagon’s effort to build a fleet of autonomous vessels, according to a dozen people familiar with the program.
A few weeks earlier, during another Navy test, the captain of a patrol ship fell into the sea after another BlackSea autonomous vessel he was towing suddenly accelerated and capsized the patrol ship, according to four people familiar with the incident. The captain was rescued and refused medical attention. The incident was first reported by Defense Scoop.
Both incidents, according to a source directly involved in the program, were the result of a combination of software glitches and human error, including communication problems between the ship’s systems and external autonomous software.
The Navy, Saronic and BlackSea declined to comment on the events.
U.S. military leaders, aware of the potential impact of naval drones in the Ukraine war, have repeatedly stressed the need for a fleet of autonomous air and sea drones that could deter China’s potential advance across the Taiwan Strait. Taiwan itself has begun acquiring its own naval drones.
The Ukrainian-developed drones, which often resemble unmanned speedboats and can carry weapons, explosives and surveillance equipment, are mostly remote-controlled and cost around $250,000, making them suitable for the kamikaze missions that have successfully neutralized Russia’s Black Sea Fleet.
The United States, however, aims to build an autonomous naval fleet that can operate in swarms without human command—a much more ambitious and expensive task, costing millions of dollars per speedboat.
The recent test failures highlight the challenges the Navy faces in trying to introduce this new technology, says Brian Clark, an expert on autonomous warfare at the Hudson Institute. He says the Navy will need to adjust its tactics to better understand what the systems can and cannot do.
The Navy’s problems aren’t just about getting the ships to work. The unit responsible for acquiring autonomous maritime drones has also been shaken by the removal of a top admiral, and a senior Pentagon official expressed concerns about the program in an open meeting with Navy leaders last month, Reuters learned.
After the latest incident, the Pentagon’s Defense Innovation Unit (DIU), which provided the technology for the tests, indefinitely suspended a nearly $20 million contract with L3Harris, one of the companies providing autonomous ship control software, two people familiar with the situation said.
The Pentagon did not respond to questions about the cause of the accidents or the termination of the L3Harris contract, which was not previously known to the public. A Pentagon spokesman said the drone tests are conducted as part of a “competitive and iterative approach between operators and industry.”
L3Harris declined to comment on the contract and referred questions to DIU. DIU also declined to comment.
"L3Harris stands behind the security, reliability, and capabilities of our autonomous command and control product," said Tobi Magsig, director of autonomous software products at L3Harris.
