Unmanned remote-controlled submersible craft have come a long way since Nikola Tesla demonstrated his radio-controlled robot submersible at Madison Square Garden in 1898. This was the first time that a remote control vehicle had ever been demonstrated. Although the thousands of people attending the demonstration were impressed, the military was not and the project went no further. Now, the U.S. and the Russians are currently engaged in an arms race to develop the first underwater military drones.
I have previously blogged about reports that the Russians were working on a fast stealth underwater drone that could carry a nuclear warhead undetected into U.S. coastal waters. At first the Russians denied that they were working on such a drone but were forced to admit that the reports were accurate after secret documents about plans to develop what they called a "Status-6" underwater vehicle called the Kanyon that could carry nuclear warheads were made public.
These drones would be controlled from nearby submarines and could bring nuclear warheads into the coastal waters of enemy nations without being detected. Following a nuclear detonation, the country that sent the drone would be able to claim innocence.
Following the leak of the secret Russian plans, a Russian expert pointed out that such a weapon could change the balance of nuclear weapons in the world. He said that “The Kanyon represents another example of Russia's aggressive and innovative approach to the development of military capabilities against US and Western interests. The possible yield of the warhead, in the megaton class, clearly is an attempt to inflict catastrophic damage against US or European naval facilities or coastal cities."
The U.S. has its own development program for underwater military drones. It has been reported that Lawrence Wilkerson who was the chief of staff for Secretary of State Colin Powell said that the U.S. military is very close to using 3-D printing to print such a drone in a single day. Each drone would cost about one hundred thousand dollars. He also said: "Imagine an underwater army of drones patrolling the seas armed with smart torpedoes or mines."
The U.S. Navy wants to allocate over three hundred million dollars to develop and purchase underwater drones in the coming year. The mission for such drones would be to gather intelligence, find and neutralize mines, hunt enemy submarines and chart the ocean floor. The Boeing Company is working on a craft called the Echo Voyager. The fifty-one-foot submersible craft carries no crew. It can travel underwater for weeks at a time, collecting data to relay back to ships or shore stations.
The co-director of the Center for the Study of the Drone at Bard College in New York said "As tensions continue to grow with China and Russia, two militaries that have sophisticated and very large navies, there is a growing interest in making use of unmanned technology in the maritime sphere. They are scalable, they are dependable, they can operate with a fairly high degree of autonomy."
Boeing Echo Voyager:
