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"And if communication between the unmanned boats and the sailor overseeing them were ever broken, the boat would automatically shut down." Isn't this a major vu

"And if communication between the unmanned boats and the sailor overseeing them were ever broken, the boat would automatically shut down." Isn't this a major vulnerability ?

privong 12y ago
Along those lines, I was wondering what additional countermeasures were added, to ensure the boats are not more easily captured than a manned boat. And is there a "kill switch" in the event the boat is lost?
- tonyarkles 12y ago
  I'm assuming that the presence of a nearby navy vessel with helicopters and marines ready to be part of a boarding party may be a deterrent.
  - privong 12y ago
    It never hurts to be careful, especially when one is dealing with weapons.
atrus 12y ago
I'm wondering if the firing capability is automatically shut down, not its steering and moving around abilities.
JoeAltmaier 12y ago
Agreed. These boats are a demo of a capability; maybe not useful for much but civilian patrol. Consider: I could put a jammer on my boat, and go out shutting down, harvesting Navy robot boats and selling them for scrap!
- TeMPOraL 12y ago
  Yeah, that would go fine with first two boats, and then you'd have to explain yourself to a SEAL team that would come on the third one. Or, if they were especially lazy, you'd quickly learn about Anti-Radiation Missiles.
tonyarkles 12y ago
Yes and no. Due to the nature of radio, it'll be pretty hard to pull this off without painting a giant target on your own vessel. Additionally, you can design the radio link system with varying degrees of jam resistance. In this case, you probably can't 100% prevent jamming from happening, but you can require your adversary to emit a signal that is more than loud enough to do radio direction finding on. Also... Rf seeking weapons are not a new concept: http://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/AGM-88_HARM http://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/AGM-88_HARM
ghshephard 12y ago
They didn't mention how powerful a signal they were using to communicate with the boat. My guess is that, in a combat situation, they won't have to adhere to FCC (or whatever the local regulator agency is) regulations. With enough power, and anti-jamming technology, both of which I'm sure they have an excess of, it's not going to be particularly easy to disrupt comms.

"And if communication between the unmanned boats and the sailor overseeing them were ever broken, the boat would automatically shut down." Isn't this a major vulnerability ?

privong 12y ago

Along those lines, I was wondering what additional countermeasures were added, to ensure the boats are not more easily captured than a manned boat. And is there a "kill switch" in the event the boat is lost?

tonyarkles 12y ago
I'm assuming that the presence of a nearby navy vessel with helicopters and marines ready to be part of a boarding party may be a deterrent.
- privong 12y ago
  It never hurts to be careful, especially when one is dealing with weapons.

atrus 12y ago

I'm wondering if the firing capability is automatically shut down, not its steering and moving around abilities.

JoeAltmaier 12y ago

Agreed. These boats are a demo of a capability; maybe not useful for much but civilian patrol. Consider: I could put a jammer on my boat, and go out shutting down, harvesting Navy robot boats and selling them for scrap!

TeMPOraL 12y ago
Yeah, that would go fine with first two boats, and then you'd have to explain yourself to a SEAL team that would come on the third one. Or, if they were especially lazy, you'd quickly learn about Anti-Radiation Missiles.

tonyarkles 12y ago

Yes and no. Due to the nature of radio, it'll be pretty hard to pull this off without painting a giant target on your own vessel. Additionally, you can design the radio link system with varying degrees of jam resistance. In this case, you probably can't 100% prevent jamming from happening, but you can require your adversary to emit a signal that is more than loud enough to do radio direction finding on. Also... Rf seeking weapons are not a new concept: http://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/AGM-88_HARM http://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/AGM-88_HARM

ghshephard 12y ago

They didn't mention how powerful a signal they were using to communicate with the boat. My guess is that, in a combat situation, they won't have to adhere to FCC (or whatever the local regulator agency is) regulations. With enough power, and anti-jamming technology, both of which I'm sure they have an excess of, it's not going to be particularly easy to disrupt comms.