Navy’s drone armada

Crewless craft protecting our borders

BRITAIN’S latest spy drone took to the waters yesterday as part of an incredible armada of robotic military machines.

The unmanned rigid inflatable boat can reach 54mph and be used by special forces to patrol the English Channel for illegal immigrants.

Equipped with radar sensors, infrared cameras and a 360- degree camera, the vessel is capable of 12-hour missions as SBS troops watch a live link from the shore or a ship 25miles away.

Yesterday it got its first live run as part of the Royal Navy’s Unmanned Warrior exercise, the biggest ever war game using more than 50 types of drones off the UK coast.

It joined mini-submarines scouring the seabed with sonar beams, a robotic speedboat dubbed ‘Bladerunner’ and aerial drones. The crewless rigid inflatable – known as the P950 – is designed to carry out surveillance operations.

It can be driven by remote control from miles away. Or it can be put into ‘autonomous mode’, navigating itself while avoiding any obstacles it comes into contact with. In the future the vessel – of which a manned version is already in service – could be equipped with weaponry to help with mine-hunting.

Manufacturer BAE, which has invested £1.4million in developing the craft, sees it being used to search the seas for migrants trying to head to Britain. Andy Wright, of BAE, said: ‘The fact you’ve not got individuals on- board means.. greater ability to be able to detect from a safe distance when a migrant boat is in trouble.’ It can also ‘patrol open waters in search of smugglers or people traffickers’. Taking place off the coast of Wales and west of Scotland, the two-week Unmanned Warrior exercise is the world’s largest demonstration of autonomous maritime craft.

It will run through a range of scenarios, including war, disputed territory, terrorist activity and piracy. Peter Pipkin, the navy’s robotics officer commander, said the state- of-the-art robot fleet could ‘fundamentally change the future of Royal Navy operations’.