An eight-metre uncrewed surface vehicle (USV) with a top speed of 40 knots and a 1,100lb payload capacity is among a slew of new products launched by Boston-based firm Sea Machines Robotics.
The American autonomous vessel software and systems specialists, which to date has described its SM300 platform as its flagship product, has just launched Stormrunner, a new 8-metre USV featuring anti-jamming global satellite navigation (GNSS), onboard processing, and autonomous “fallback” behaviours such as return-to-base.
The new drone platform is a metre larger than the firm’s other Selkie USV and boasts a 40-knot top speed with 500-plus nautical miles of range carrying a payload of up to 1,100 lbs.
The American firm’s new vessel is one of six product launches announced simultaneously; the other new product lines include SM300-NG a platform-independent upgraded autonomy system with more computing power and interfaces for third-party applications, and Fleetviewer, an online platform to view, capture, and use real-time vessel data, including streamed images.
As per Wednesday’s company press statement, the new products “answer the demand from defence organizations for commercially-driven asymmetric fleet capability.”
Founder and CTO Michael Johnson commented: “Sea Machines was built around commercial market needs, which simply put, means that the products must deliver immense value and reliability. This fits perfectly with Government customers who are increasingly demanding deployable, proven systems.”
- You can read more details on the Sea Machines website