Navy spy sub drone washed up on beach
£200,000 UAV thought to have malfunctioned
A malfunctioned Navy spy sub drone has been found washed up on an Arran beach.
The sophisticated equipment, worth more than £200,000, was found lying on rocks by a couple out walking their dogs. Royal Navy chiefs have confirmed it was being tested for its potential military use and officers from the trials team, based at Portsmouth, has been sent to Arran to retreive it.
Sliddery residents John and Jean Fitzpatrick are no strangers to discovering unusual and interesting items on the beach but their latest discovery might be their most unusual and is certainly the most expensive.
While out walking her two dogs at Windy Corner near Corriecravie, Jean noticed, on the rocks in the distance, a white rocket that had washed ashore. ‘That is no toy’
Jean said: ‘When I first saw it I thought that it was a child’s toy, a rocket that shoots up into the air with air pressure. My initial reaction was that it would look great in my two-year old grandchild’s room but as I neared the object I thought, “That is no toy” especially when I saw the Royal Navy logo.’
The unmanned autonomous vehicle (UAV) that Jean discovered is a Royal Navy owned IVER3-580 scientific instrument, much like a drone but used for underwater security, research and environmental monitoring. Jean finished her walk and, along with her husband John, they retrieved the 50kg, twometre UAV and carried it to safety where they left it in their back garden.
They contacted a friend, Emily Anderson of Subsea Tooling Services UK Ltd, who directed them to a Maritime and Coastguard Agency wreck and salvage reporting form which had to be completed and sent to the organisation.
When asked how they knew Emily, John said: ‘We know Emily from when we dis
covered a marine survey recovery vehicle. A few years ago we found a device which is attached to a UAV and returns it in the event of there being a problem, and Emily helped us identify it.
‘She was a bit surprised to hear from us again with our latest find but she identified the UAV for us once more, even though this time it was a Ministry of Defence piece of equipment rather than a private one.
‘She identified the IVER3-580 as a state-ofthe-art UAV capable of exploring sub-sea areas at speeds of up to four knots and at depths of 100 metres. It can travel for up to 14 hours autonomously and contains its own onboard computer with sonar, navigation lights, GPS and wifi and advanced mapping abilities.
Commercially
‘The basic model, without the advanced additional equipment on this one, is available commercially for £160,000 so this one should be a snip at about £200,000, according to estimates,’ John said.
Remarkably, Jean and John, who have a long list of beach discoveries ranging from messages in bottles to toy pirate ships and the odd bit of military ordinance, and now UAVs, can also lay claim to a discovery that has contributed to our understanding of the prehistoric world.
Discovered
In 2009, once again while out walking their dogs, they discovered more than 100 footprints from a lizard called Isochirotherium – also known as the hand-beast – which lived more than 270 million years ago in Sliddery, which was then part of a land mass joined with the Unites States.
Shortly after reporting having found the UAV, Jean received a call from a military official who arranged to retrieve the piece of maritime hardware and, while not a consideration for the Fitzpatricks, they learned that the item is considered lost property rather than maritime salvage which entitles the finder to a financial reward.
According to the Merchant Shipping Act of 1995, it is the duty of the Receiver of Wrecks to ensure that a fair salvage award payment is made for the return of salvaged property, which could have been a considerable sum in this case owing to the value of the UAV.
John said: ‘I respect the good work that the Royal Navy performs around the world and our main intention with the UAV is to make sure that it is returned to its rightful owner.’
Lieutenant Commander John R Hunnibell, the officer in charge of the Royal Navy’s Maritime Autonomous Systems Trials Team, said: ‘The Royal Navy trials various autonomous underwater data gathering equipment in order to establish its capability and potential military application.
Malfunction
‘On very rare occasions, this autonomous equipment – which is commercially available – can malfunction, and as a result cannot be retrieved.
‘The navy’s trials team is grateful to the members of the public on Arran who found the equipment and reported it to the authorities. It can now be recovered, refurbished and reused in later trials.’