Industry, Navy collaborating to develop highly capable unmanned and autonomous surface ships

October 7, 2020 | AUVSI News

When it comes to unmanned and autonomous surface ships, the U.S. Navy will have “a lot” of them “very soon,” says Craig Perciavalle, president of global ship builder and defense prime contractor Austal USA.

“As we talk about autonomy, one thing’s for sure: it’s certainly not a question now if the Navy will have unmanned or autonomous surface ships in the fleet,” Perciavalle says during a session titled “Designing & Constructing Autonomous Naval Ships.” “It’s more a question of when and how many.”

As the Secretary of Defense and the Navy have made it clear that unmanned and autonomous vessels are the future of the Navy, the efforts to bring that vision to reality sooner than later have become a priority.

For Perciavalle, it’s no surprise the surface fleet is experiencing this evolution, as it has “been in the works for some time,” he says, adding that from a technological standpoint, the ability to field unmanned and autonomous platforms is there, and further along than many think in all aspects.

“Autonomy is all around us now,” he points out, including on a lot of modern surface ships, as virtually all systems on these vessels are already highly automated, and operational in almost every aspect from a single computer workstation, which allows them to be operated with the click of a mouse.

The next step in the process, Perciavalle says, is the reliable integration of autonomous system technologies and seaframe technologies, coupled with the advancements in extending human interaction requirements typically centered around routine maintenance, or eliminating it all together in the Hull, Mechanical & Electrical (HM&E) systems of a ship.

“That’s where we are today, and the progress has been truly amazing,” Perciavalle says.

While there’s been a tremendous amount of focus on autonomy software solutions, primarily mission and navigation autonomy solutions, there hasn’t been as much focus on the development of the platforms themselves, Perciavalle notes. The importance of the platform can’t be understated, as that is what will actually deliver the capability to the fleet.

For years, Austal has focused on the advancements of seaframe design development, automation and health monitoring, with open architecture and scalable solutions that can be integrated with autonomy systems. The foundation of that solution is being utilized on the ships the company is delivering today, and the company is leveraging that technology while it develops autonomous surface ship solutions of the future.

Collaborating to push the warfighter ahead

A lot of progress has been made working with suppliers in extending or eliminating the need for human intervention on ships. This includes the addition of additional automation and sensors where required, advancing certain systems, and added redundancy. Some areas that have seen advancements are the main propulsion systems, the electrical distribution systems, and the fire detection systems.

“Quite frankly, any time there was a routine action needed to be taken by a human, we looked at those activities and replaced them with automation or redundancy,” Perciavalle says.

Throughout this process, the Navy has worked collaboratively with industry to leverage existing technologies, develop prototypes, and fully test them, which will set warfighters up for success in the not so distant future, Perciavalle adds.

One thing that has been extremely valuable during this process has been the valuable feedback provided on both sides, especially early on, which allows industry to understand the direction the Navy is seeking to go, and the Navy to get a good understanding of what technologies exist and what’s possible.

That’s what it’s all about, Perciavalle says: having real time dialogue and working through the process efficiently, which results in the efficient development of requirements so that autonomous programs can achieve early success; something that is important for the Navy, industry and the U.S. government as a whole.

While solutions are being developed every day, questions remain. Right now, the Navy CONOPS is feeding the finalization of vessel requirements, which directly effects the design of the platform. There’s been good progress there, with more progress expected as prototype testing continues, but more work needs to be done.

Perciavalle notes that there are various seaframe solutions that exist that can provide certain benefits. Certain requirements will drive the design, so getting the right balance between costs and capability will be key. Decisions will also have to be made between the likes of optionally manned, unmanned, and fully autonomous solutions.

Other important things to keep in mind during the process are mission durations, as well as the potential tradeoffs between speed, volume, payload, fuel efficiency and other requirements that will also drive the design of different vessels.

All of these questions have answers, though, which Perciavalle and Austal plan on continuing to provide going forward.

“To us, it’s all about leveraging those existing technologies and giving the biggest bang for the buck to the Navy,” Perciavalle says.