Uncrewed surface vessels (USVs) developed by a subsidiary of defence firm Red Cat are being armed with the Bullfrog autonomous weapon station built by Allen Control Systems (ACS).
ACS’ Bullfrog AI-powered robotic weapon station will be integrated onto a series of USVs produced by Blue Ops, Red Cat’s maritime division.
The autonomous turret acts as a counter-drone machine gun system designed to neutralise drones in groups 1-3. It fires standard NATO 7.62x51mm bullets at a rate of up to 850 rounds per minute, at an effective range of up to 800m. It detects, tracks, identifies, and acquires targets autonomously.
Blue Ops’ Variant 7 USV was launched last year at DSEI UK in London; the 7m diesel-powered drone can also be configured for a range of other missions including ISR, kinetic, surface-to-air missile and UAS launch.
Red Cat’s VP of Tech & Innovation Jason Gunter commented: “The rapid proliferation of small unmanned systems has reshaped the modern battlefield and requires equally advanced countermeasures. Allen Control Systems brings innovative autonomous precision technology that complements our family-of-systems approach.”
And ACS co-founder and CEO Mike Wior added: “Partnering with Red Cat and joining the Futures Initiative allows us to integrate our fully autonomous precision weapons station into a proven unmanned platform, advancing these systems beyond basic requirements and enabling them to execute more advanced and complex missions for U.S. military forces and their allies.”
Red Cat’s Futures Initiative is an industry-wide consortium seeking to accelerate advanced autonomous warfare systems including AI, computer vision, target acquisition, swarming, and control resilience.
- You can read more details on the Blue Ops website and the Red Cat website