The U.S. military is looking for autonomous freighters that can transport supplies into dangerous waters, according to a Defense Innovation Unit solicitation.
These robotic vessels would not only carry supply pallets and bulk liquids but also be capable of sinking themselves to avoid capture.
The Department of Defense “faces a littoral contested logistics challenge,” warned the DIU solicitation, which is due March 16. “Increasingly distributed operations in austere, contested littoral environments are met with all-domain threats targeting logistics capabilities, locations, and activities. These threats limit the ability of warfighters to persist in contested environments and remain combat effective.”
One solution is to use cheap — and expendable — robot freighters that can be delivered within 180 days after the contract is awarded. While the solicitation doesn’t specify the vessel’s size, DIU only wants a minimum 9-ton cargo capacity. This suggests a ship far smaller than commercial and military container ships and tankers with capacities in the tens or hundreds of thousands of tons. Vessels must have “a low-profile form factor to reduce chances of detection and interdiction,” while being small enough to be carried by a commercial tractor-trailer, according to the solicitation.
Cargo would include “standard warehouse pallets, Pallet Containers (PALCONs), and Joint Modular Intermodal Containers (JMICs),” the solicitation notes. The ship must be capable of transporting six 3,000-pound JMICs or two 5,100-ton containers.
With a minimum speed of 12 knots while fully laden, these autonomous freighters would be slower than commercial vessels designed to travel up to 25 knots (though typical cruising speeds for commercial ships are slower). However, they will be able to sail 1,000 to 2,000 miles while fully loaded in sea state 5 (up to 13-foot waves).
The goal seems to be a versatile maritime workhorse that can be utilized throughout the combat logistics chain. Vessels would “conduct shore-to-shore (pier-to-pier), ship-to-ship, and ship-to-shore distribution, including Military Sealift Command vessels and other littoral connectors,” according to the solicitation.
As always with autonomous ships, navigation and collision avoidance is a concern. The Pentagon anticipates operating in crowded ports and waterways, as well as amid GPS jamming. Thus, the cargo vessels would have GPS and active sensors, along with “passive sensing during emissions control (EMCON) conditions or when communications are lost,” the solicitation notes.
“Prior to completion of prototyping, companies will be expected to demonstrate assured Position, Navigation and Timing in DDIL [denied, degraded, intermittent, and limited communications] and GPS-degraded and denied environments,” according to the solicitation.
Guidance systems must allow reprogramming for new destinations while at sea. At the same time, human operators must be able to remotely control the vessels as needed.
Interestingly, the Pentagon is also concerned that hostile actors don’t hijack the robots. Ships must be “resistant to tampering while underway with the ability to remotely scuttle the vessel,” the solicitation specifies.
Michael Peck is a correspondent for Defense News and a columnist for the Center for European Policy Analysis. He holds an M.A. in political science from Rutgers University. Find him on X at @Mipeck1. His email is [email protected].
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