Israel is a very small country that relies on very big fists. Its military equipment can give a head start to Russia and the United States. Recently, photos of Israel's new know-how have appeared in the press - the Protector unmanned boats of the Rafael company, patrolling the coastal areas of Syria, Lebanon and even Iran. The editorial board of "PM" decided to understand the topic of unmanned naval battles.
Unmanned boats are a pretty old idea. Nikola Tesla was the first to write about the prospects of military drone boats in his book "My inventions" (1921). "They will definitely be built, they will act based on their own intellect, and their appearance will revolutionize the military sphere …" he wrote. As for the intellect, the great scientist, of course, got excited (although who knows what awaits us in the future), but he predicted the rest quite correctly.
Brief introduction to the topic
Nikola Tesla was not an unfounded idealist. He patented his own invention called "Methods of control and control devices for radio-controlled boats and wheeled vehicles." Moreover, he made a prototype of the drone boat. The boat with a length of 1.8 m was equipped with an electric motor with a battery, a receiver for radio signals and a lighting system. Tesla did not supply it with any "stuffing", intending to sell the drone to the War Department for use as a fire-ship. That is, the boat, according to Tesla's idea, was loaded with dynamite and could sink an enemy ship like a torpedo. The government rejected the scientist's idea - and in vain.
They returned to the topic of unmanned floating craft during the Second World War - of course, it was not without a German technical genius. A fairly well-known German drone of those times was the Goliath self-propelled mine, controlled from a distance and capable of carrying up to 100 kg of explosives. In 1944, the first radio-controlled firefighters Ferngelenkte Sprengboote were also manufactured. True, the matter did not come to their widespread use.
Actually, the pre-war sentiments and the war itself spurred the development of the topic of "inhuman" weapons. In the USSR, experiments on the development of teletanks were in full swing, and in the Soviet-Finnish war, the remote-controlled models TT-26 and TU-26 were even used in hostilities. The main problem of the teletank was the practical impossibility of providing aimed fire. At the same time, the Comox remote-controlled torpedo was being developed in Canada, work was also underway in the United States and France to create unmanned missiles and torpedoes.
In the 1950s, during the Cold War, work did not stop for a minute. The development by the American military of a successful remote-controlled mine trawl Drone in 1954 spurred the US Department of War to create a number of unmanned aerial vehicles designed for the same purposes on the water: "High-speed maneuverable sea mine trawl", as well as projects QST-33, 34, 35A Septar. Radio-controlled mine-clearing boats were also built in Denmark (Stanflex-3000), Japan (Hatsushima class), Sweden (Sam-II ACV), Great Britain (Rim) and Germany. So, the beginning was made. Let's try to analyze how things are on the market for unmanned warships today.
American dream
The leading developers and manufacturers of unmanned military boats today are the United States and Israel. In both countries, there are a number of programs aimed at creating and improving drones. The most serious of the American projects is Draco, which has been developed by General Dynamics Robotic Systems (GDRS) since 2006. Draco was conceived as a multi-platform for a range of unmanned vehicles to carry out missions of various kinds.
At the moment, four types of unmanned boats have been developed on the basis of the Draco USV System: a descending sonar, a towed sonar, a universal workhorse and a missile boat. True, the latter has not yet been made "in metal", but exists only in the design version.
Any of the boats can be controlled by different methods depending on the environmental conditions and the combat situation. Firstly, this is radio control in line of sight (like a toy car), secondly, control via satellite, and finally, control by means of an unmanned aircraft, which serves as the high-altitude "eyes" of the robot. Draco is powered by two Yanmar 6LY3A-STP powertrains mated to a Kamewa FF310 liquid jet engine, the same equipment found in racing speedboats. Software and numerous sensors allow the boat to automatically avoid obstacles and alert the operator to changes in the outboard situation. Among other things, Draco's modular construction - like that of the Lego - provides for the installation of more advanced control systems and weapons when they are developed.
Marine Robotics Vessels International (MRVI) at an exhibition in Abu Dhabi in 2007 presented a 6, 4-meter unmanned boat Interceptor-2007. Unlike the Draco workhorse, the MRVI is primarily designed for various missions at high speeds. The drone's stated maximum speed, 87 km / h, is a pretty serious indicator for water, and the manufacturer claims that this is just the beginning. The Interceptor is designed to perform reconnaissance functions, as well as to guard large transport ships. In the latter case, it can be equipped with a water cannon or non-lethal weapons such as light dazzlers. True, there is a certain slyness in such statements. If "Interceptors" go into series, their weapons will most likely be combat machine guns or rocket launchers.
Some projects that were successful at first glance remained unrealized due to serious competition between developers. Everyone has one customer - the US Navy, and if the naval department refuses to finance the project, it simply closes.
An example is Radix Marine's Spartan Scout unmanned boat. It was developed back in 2002 and has been constantly refined - until recently. The 11m long boat was equipped with a radar and a video camera system, as well as an electro-optical aiming system, if necessary, to install weapons on it. It was supposed to install 13-mm AGM-114 Hellfire machine guns or the FGM-148 Javelin missile system. In 2003, the first prototype Spartan was built, very easy to use and highly autonomous: a team of only two people launched it from the Gettysburg cruiser. Radix Marine designed and manufactured two samples with a payload of 2267 and 1360 kg; a larger version was tested. The boat proved to be quite good, but the Ministry of War for some reason stopped active support for the project. Today, even the company's website has disappeared from the Internet, the fate of the boat is unknown.
If you forget about the numerous projects that stalled at the development stage, it is worth noting another company that brought its unmanned boat to embodiment in metal. This is Boston Whaler - a well-known manufacturer of tourist yachts and boats. Together with several other electronics and radar equipment manufacturers, Boston Whaler unveiled two unmanned boat models in 2008 under the parent company Brunswick brand. First of all, the manufacturer sought to interest the military in the novelty, but so far this experiment has not brought results. And the boats came out, by the way, beautiful.
Children of Israel
Israel's leading arms company is Rafael Advanced Defense Systems Ltd, which was established over 60 years ago as a division of the Ministry of Defense, and in 2002 became an independent company. Rafael manufactures warheads, torpedoes, ground vehicles, computer detection systems - everything that the soul of a militarist desires. In 2007, the company launched serial production of the unmanned boat Protector. Today it is the only unmanned combat boat in the world, which is produced in industrial series and is officially in service.
Protector was designed as an anti-terrorist platform with a very high level of autonomy. Ideally, a person should not take part in the work of the "Defender" at all, maximum - to control a dozen boats at the same time, looking at the monitors and telemetry data. In the open sea, a boat, of course, cannot fight, but for coastal and river operations it seems to be an ideal weapon. The Defender is equipped with an electro-optical aiming system (Rafael know-how) and a heavy 7.62 mm Mk 49 Typhoon machine gun mounted on a hinged support. The boat can independently select targets and destroy them, but most often the machine gun is controlled by a human operator independently of the Defender. Today the company successfully trades in "Defenders": the boats were purchased not only by the Israeli army, but also by the armed forces of Singapore and the US Navy. It should be noted that the Americans took part in the development of the Protector - in particular, Lockheed Martin provided some assistance.
Numerous controversies and debates have arisen in the world community in connection with the production of the "Defender" on the assembly line. The main issue was responsibility for the weapons installed on the boat, and for possible victims if they were successfully used. Who will be to blame: boat pilot, machine gun operator, drone squad leader, boat manufacturer? Or maybe nobody? Indeed, in automatic mode, the boat decides for itself whether to attack or not. The question still remains unresolved. However, Protector has not killed anyone in two years of work, so there have been no precedents. In the USA, the "Defenders" are just being tested, not in a hurry to put the new product into service.
In addition to Raphael, several other Israeli companies have developed their own unmanned boat projects. Separately, it is worth noting the Elbit company, which presented the automatic boat Silver Marlin in 2007. Actually, Elbit was expected to develop a similar development much sooner than from Rafael. Still, Elbit specializes in unmanned aerial vehicles - multipurpose and reconnaissance UAVs of this company are always successful at exhibitions and in demand.
Silver Marlin is already on the assembly line, although Elbit has few orders. The ten-meter boat is designed to carry out patrolling missions, to detect and destroy various kinds of targets, to protect against piracy and terrorists, there are also anti-mine and rescue modifications. Boat cruising range - 500 km; it is equipped with a 7.62 mm machine gun and a laser aiming system. Detection of another ship is possible at a distance of about 15 km. What is the reason for the lesser popularity of Silver Marlin? In the laws of the market. The Rafael company just managed to advance its development earlier.
Who needs drones?
It is simply impossible to cover the entire modern market for unmanned combat boats in one article. In principle, almost all developments are like two drops of water, and they left Tesla's 100-year-old patent only due to the development of computer systems and technologies. Nothing revolutionary new appeared.
Who might need drones, and why are the military so reluctant to address this topic? Stephen Phillips, managing director of the British company Autonomous Surface Vehicles, answered this question with a fair amount of skepticism: “Honestly, today there is no need to use expensive unmanned boats. Why invent a bicycle when patrolling is much better done by boats equipped with a professional team? They are quite enough for the needs of passive defense. Yes, of course, there is a need for radars, surveillance cameras - but they can be placed on the shore. Unmanned boats will be needed in the event of the start of serious hostilities and a real danger to human life, but while the situation is stable, they can wait in reserve …"
It is difficult to say whether other states will take up Israel's initiative. Singapore has already purchased a number of deadly drones. The United States is preparing for this, but almost nothing is heard about the rest. Although the existence of the "first swallows" - Rafael and Elbit - suggests that sea battles without human participation have a great future …
