executed the first autonomous unmanned mission through the Taiwan Strait,<\/a> where it proved how a relatively low-cost reconnaissance drone could capture high-resolution intelligence.<\/p>\nDuring the five-day mission, Seasats\u2019 flagship vessel, the Lightfish, was able to capture close-up video of Chinese destroyers and warships \u2014 critical data that traditional shore-based radar cannot collect.<\/p>\n
To date, Seasats has received $2.5 million \u2014 with the potential to be awarded up to $15.5 million \u2014 from the Department of Defense for Operation River Wall.<\/p>\n
For Operation River Wall, the Pentagon also announced plans to expand the Lightfish fleet from 10 test vessels to 50.<\/p>\n
The 300-pound vessel packs optical, infrared and sonar sensors. Its drones stream live tracking data into military software, including Palantir\u2019s Maven Smart System and Anduril\u2019s Fortress platform, giving Customs and Border Protection and Coast Guard teams an immediate view of activity at sea.<\/p>\n
Production of these high-tech boats happens entirely in-house.<\/p>\n
Each Lightfish has 1,500 discrete components, each requiring specialized oversight.<\/p>\n
\u201cEverything has to be marinized, connectorized, robustified,\u201d said Mac Woodson, an engineer at Seasats. \u201cWe either take apart other devices to get the specialized component or just make it ourselves.\u201d<\/p>\n
Dozens of software engineers develop the systems that govern the drones\u2019 decision-making at sea, while mechanical engineers work through detailed checklists to ensure the small skiffs can withstand the towering waves they\u2019ll face during six months on the water.<\/p>\n
If an enemy captures one, the Lightfish has a \u201csink button\u201d that can destroy the system and safeguard sensitive data.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe haven\u2019t had to sink any ships yet,\u201d Woodson said.<\/p>\n
The Lightfish sells for about $240,000. \u201cOur goal is attrition,\u201d Woodson said. \u201cIf we can produce a drone that is not very expensive, if it gets lost, captured, blown up, stolen, it\u2019s not a big deal, right?\u201d<\/p>\n
Seasats is one of several companies pursuing autonomous maritime drones. Saronic, Saildrone and Splash are developing vessels aimed at similar military and commercial applications.<\/p>\n
During the company\u2019s ribbon-cutting, potential contractors pressed engineers about specialized missions, while investors inquired about what\u2019s next.<\/p>\n
\u201cThat brings us to the Quickfish,\u201d said Woodson. He walked down the production line, stopping at a row of\u00a0huge gray torpedos.<\/p>\n
He put his hands on the 17-foot, high-speed autonomous surface vessel. One had a shark\u2019s menacing smile painted on the tip of the bow.<\/p>\n
The Quickfish is faster than the Lightfish and designed to carry larger payloads.<\/p>\n
And the best part? \u201cThey can be prepackaged, like an IKEA-style kit,\u201d said Woodson. The aluminum drone is designed to be shipped in a box and assembled on-site without complex tooling.<\/p>\n
He specifically noted Taiwan\u2019s stated desire<\/a> to buy over a thousand unmanned autonomous surface vessels in the near future.<\/p>\nIt\u2019s still in a pilot program, with no orders yet. \u201cWe are betting on ourselves,\u201d Woodson said.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"San Diego sea-drone company Seasats opened a new headquarters Tuesday to ramp up production of autonomous boats now…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":488601,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[28],"tags":[387,181,74,76,75,1970,1696],"class_list":["post-488600","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-san-diego","tag-business","tag-latest-headlines","tag-san-diego","tag-san-diego-headlines","tag-san-diego-news","tag-technology","tag-top-stories-sdut"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/488600","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=488600"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/488600\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/488601"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=488600"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=488600"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=488600"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}