U.S. Navy tests of autonomous drone boats off California faced setbacks last month, with collisions and software glitches highlighting challenges in the Pentagon’s push to develop a fleet of unmanned maritime vessels.
During recent U.S. Navy tests off California, autonomous drone boats faced collisions and software glitches, highlighting challenges in developing unmanned maritime fleets. One vessel stalled while another crashed into it, and in a separate incident, a support boat capsized after a drone suddenly accelerated.
The incidents involved BlackSea Technologies and Saronic vessels and were caused by a mix of software failures and human error.
The Navy and companies declined to comment.
The U.S. aims to deploy autonomous drone swarms inspired by Ukraine’s maritime drones. While Ukrainian drones cost around $250,000, U.S. vessels are more advanced and cost millions. Organizational setbacks, including a paused $20 million L3Harris contract and leadership changes, have further complicated the program.
Experts say the Navy must adapt tactics and procedures as it expands autonomous capabilities, while competition grows for larger maritime projects, including unmanned submarines and cargo ships.
T.X. Hammes, an autonomous weapons expert, commented: “You’ve got a system that’s used to building big things, taking years to make a decision, and now suddenly you’re asking them to move fast.”
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European leaders gathered in Dublin on Thursday, 12 November, for the ninth European Political Community (EPC) summit, with security, defence and energy high on the agenda. Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev held talks focused on peace, trade and regional cooperation.
UN Secretary-General António Guterres delivered a stark warning at this year's COP31 summit, saying the climate crisis iss advancing faster than governments' efforts to contain it.
Iran will not let a single particle of its enriched nuclear material leave the country, and any new U.S. attack would be met with strikes on distant American bases, Iranian security chief Mohsen Rezaei has said.
Nvidia chief executive Jensen Huang is stepping down amid reports linking him to a woman suspected by U.S. authorities of spying for China, throwing the future of the $4 trillion chipmaker into uncertainty.
Here's your AnewZ Daily Brief for 11 November. Today, we cover Russia-Ukraine peace talks, political tensions in Washington, strikes in Spain, espionage allegations involving Nvidia's CEO, and climate negotiations at COP31 in Türkiye.
Azerbaijan and the UK have pledged to strengthen defence, trade and education cooperation after signing a joint declaration elevating relations to a strategic level in Dublin, Ireland on Thursday (12 November).
More than 333,000 people have been forced from their homes in Yemen since the beginning of August as fighting has escalated, including more than 24,000 in the past week alone, the United Nations said on Thursday.
A court in Russia’s Baltic exclave of Kaliningrad has sentenced human rights lawyer Maria Bontsler to 12 years in prison on treason charges, after prosecutors accused her of passing sensitive information to Ukraine.
U.S. President Donald Trump has threatened to double tariffs on Mexico unless it stops more than a thousand migrants who are walking north towards the United States, warning that they will be denied entry.
A gunman shot dead his building’s manager and wounded four other people in Washington, D.C. on Thursday, before barricading himself inside his apartment and taking his own life after a standoff with police, officials said.
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