Israel Automates Submarine Hunting

Stephen Green links to a post on Strategy Page about a new automated submarine hunter Israel has developed:

An Israeli firm recently revealed that it had developed a USV (unmanned surface vessel) system that can carry out ASW (anti-submarine warfare) as well as finding and destroying bottom mines. Called Seagull, each system consists of two USVs and a base station (on land or a manned ship) for the handful of people needed to operate Seagull. One of the Seagull USVs carries several types of sensors (sonars and others) while the other UAV carries a minisub (for getting a closer look at bottom mines) and wire guided torpedoes (for destroying subs or bottom mines). Each USV is 12 meters (39 feet) long, has a top speed of 57 kilometers an hour, a payload of 2.5 tons and can stay at sea for up to four days at a time. The Seagull USVs can operate up to a hundred kilometers from its base station. Each Seagull system will cost about $30 million but can do the work of a frigate or corvette costing ten times as much.

Read more here.