Integrating autonomy - Maintain, launch, execute and recover

Abstract

In recent years, autonomy has been subject to significant interest and investment within the maritime industry. Several high-profile trials, such as Unmanned Warrior 2016 and Autonomous Warrior 2018, have drawn attention to the rapidly emerging and advancing technology. Following the successful operation of 7 autonomous vessels during Unmanned Warrior 2016, L3Harris completed a series of demonstrations at Autonomous Warrior 2018. The continually evolving technology has enabled increasingly complex autonomous operations to be trialled. This accessibility and the enhanced capabilities have resulted in the increased adoption of autonomous vessel technology. Navies around the world have shown much interest in the enhanced military capability that autonomous vessels bring to the operational theatre. It is clear that the technology is available and the demand exists, but does integration into a modern operation warship pose an indisputable challenge? The operating cycle of an USV when hosted onboard a warship can be summarised as 'Maintain, Launch, Execute and Recover'. Understanding how the USV integrates into the mothership at each of these stages will increase the effectiveness and efficiency of operating the USV. To fully understand this, all aspects of integration should be considered-people, processes and technical interfaces. Two key onboard systems that an autonomous vessel will need to interact with are the combat system and the IPMS. As autonomous technologies become more established and proven, the confidence gained will have implications for its possible implementation on larger vessels, potentially leading to fully autonomous cargo ships and cruise ships.