The Office of Naval Research (ONR)’s Medium Displacement Unmanned Surface Vessel, Sea Hunter, has become the first ship to successfully autonomously navigate from San Diego to Pearl Harbor, Hawaii, and back without crew onboard (except very short duration boardings by personnel from an escort vessel to check electrical and propulsion systems).
The 132-foot trimaran was designed and built by prime contractor Leidos at Vigor shipyard, and the voyage was part of testing which has been ongoing since 2016. Sea Hunter will continue long duration and mission package testing throughout 2019. Read on.
