The Indian Navy (IN) is examining the potential use of weaponised Unmanned Surface Vehicle (USV) Swarms and is already working in association with a local company for the same. To be noted that earlier this year, IN had signed an agreement with Sagar Defence Engineering Pvt. Ltd for armed autonomous boat swarms under ‘SPRINT’, an initiative to promote development of niche defence technologies by domestic companies.
Navy expects to place an order for 12 systems after the construction of the weaponised autonomous unmanned boat. Understandably, the Navy is using the expertise gained in this project to understand and evaluate the capabilities of USV swarm for practical exploitation. If successful, the order could run into higher numbers.
About the USV Swarms: The platform will be able to conduct a range of navy and security tasks including high-speed interdiction; surveillance; constabulary operations; Command, Control, Communications, Computers (C4) Intelligence, Surveillance and Reconnaissance (C4ISR); and low-intensity maritime operations.
Image Source: https://www.sagardefence.com/
