Autonomous Drone Boat Test Ends in Disaster

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The future of warfare is autonomous.

To compete with China,

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particularly in the Taiwan Strait, the US

Department of Defense has been ramping up

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development of autonomous boats.

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But according to an exclusive Reuters report,

things could be better.

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The US Navy recently conducted a test of

autonomous drone boats off the California coast

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that was meant to promote the Pentagon's

prowess.

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During that test, one of the vessels stalled as

the team worked to fix a software bug.

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Another vessel T-boned it.

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Reuters actually managed to get their hands on

footage of the accidents,

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yet it hit it,

hit it real good, boom!

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Got him.

The boats were made by rival contractors,

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Austin, Texas-based Seronic Technologies, and

Baltimore, Maryland-based Black Sea

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Technologies.

According to the report, building this

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autonomous fleet has been no easy feat, and a

combination of software and human errors have

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led to other accidents.

Part of the problem is getting these systems to

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talk to one another, which is important for a.

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The military, hoping these autonomous swarms can

be truly autonomous,

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and these vessels are pricey.

Each one can cost millions.

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Still, it's a relatively new technology that

the DOD is trying to ramp up amid personnel

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changes with the new administration, as well as

acquisitions.

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For example, about 4 months ago, Seronic bought

Gulf Craft,

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a Louisiana-based shipbuilder, to accelerate

its

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shipbuilding capabilities.

The deal gave Seronic a shipyard on the Gulf

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Coast that it will use as the prototyping and

production hub for its medium unmanned surface

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vessel fleet, starting with Marauder,

Seronic's 150 ft autonomous surface vessel.

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The technology is a top priority for the Trump

administration, which has earmarked nearly $5

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billion for maritime autonomous systems.

I'm David Manti.

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This is Manufacturing Now.