Damen Shipyards and Blue Water Autonomy are jointly building a new Liberty Class Ship for the U.S Navy under its Modular Surface Craft Program.
The vessel will be fully autonomous and will operate in open waters without a crew for atleast 90 days at a stretch!
It will function as a support ship for manned naval vessels, enabling the personnel and crew to focus on the complicated tasks of an operation or mission.
The first vessel will be launched in the coming weeks, per reports.
Adoption of the Damen Stan Patrol 6009 design
The companies decided to use an existing naval design, the Damen San Patrol 6009, for the autonomous Liberty class ship, making mass production easier, cheaper and faster.
This way, the firms can also skip the long naval production protocols, which involve several years of testing and validation before a new design can become operational.
Around 300 ships have the Stan Patrol 6009’s axe bow hull, which further proves its durability and seaworthiness, and so it was
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