Are ‘Robot Ships’ The Future For The U.S. Navy?

The U.S. Navy’s first drone warship dubbed “Sea Hunter.” DARPA 

Washington Post: The military wants ‘robot ships’ to replace sailors in battle 

On a sunny day last September, a ship with no humans aboard fired its missiles into the sky, inching the military toward a sought-after goal: building an armada of drone ships that use artificial intelligence instead of sailors to fight at sea. 

The missile test was a crucial step for the Navy’s autonomous vessel program, an extensive initiative to develop 21 robot ships over the next few years. The program is a direct response to countries such as China, which have been building sophisticated missile technology to target ships that approach their shores. Robot vessels could be a cheaper and more effective way to protect the seas while putting fewer sailors’ lives at risk, former naval officers said. 

But in recent weeks, a growing chorus of watchdogs, experts, analysts and former naval officers have cautioned that any grand plans to use artificial intelligence to modernize naval fleets in short order are unrealistic, because of budgetary constraints and the difficultly of building artificial intelligence that can adequately replace sailors. 

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WNU Editor: The US Navy has big plans .... Diving Deep & Sailing High – US Navy To Unleash 100 Drone Ships To Checkmate Iran In The Persian Gulf Region (The EurAsian Times).