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The US navy says it is close to using armed, robotic patrol boats without sailors on board to escort and defend warships moving through the Malacca Strait, one of the world's busiest sea lanes and a key shipping route for China.
The technology, adapted from space agency Nasa's rovers on Mars, could transform how a navy operates and is sure to raise fresh concerns about the widening role of robots in warfare.
The Office of Naval Research yesterday released the results of what it called an unprecedented demonstration in August involving 13 robotic patrol craft escorting a ship along the James River in the US state of Virginia.
In a simulated scenario, five of the robotic patrol boats guarded a larger ship, while eight others were ordered to investigate a suspicious vessel.
The unmanned patrol boats then encircled the "target", enabling the mother ship to move safely through the area.
The demonstration, conducted over two weeks, was designed to "replicate a transit through a strait", naval research chief Rear Admiral Matthew Klunder said. "It could be the straits of Malacca, it could be the straits of Hormuz."
The Malacca Strait is a 900km shipping lane linking Asia to the Middle East and Europe that carries 40 per cent of the world's trade. About 80 per cent of China's oil imports pass through the strait and the boats could be used by the United States to block energy supplies to China during a conflict.
Meanwhile, piracy has surged in the Malacca Strait. Attacks in the region topped 150 last year after starting an upward trend in 2010.
The demonstration was a "breakthrough" that went far beyond any previous experiment, he said, adding that similar robotic patrol craft were likely to be escorting US naval ships within a year.
The patrol craft, 11-metre long vessels known as rigid-hulled inflatable boats, are usually operated by three or four sailors, but outfitted with the robotic system, a single sailor could oversee up to 20 of the vessels.
There were no shots fired in the demonstration but Klunder said the robotic craft could carry non-lethal equipment, such as lights and blaring sound systems, as well as 50-calibre machine guns.
And the vessels could fire on an enemy ship if ordered to do so by a sailor.

"We have every intention to use those unmanned systems to engage a threat," Klunder said. "There is always a human in the loop of that designation of the target and if so, the destruction of the target."
For the demonstration, researchers had fail-safe systems in place to avoid any mishaps.
If communications with the patrol craft broke off, the vessels would go "dead in the water", said programme manager Robert Brizzolara.
And if the boats malfunctioned in some way, there were two separate communications links that could be used to halt the vessel.
Unlike drone aircraft, such as the Predator and Reaper, the robotic boats are more autonomous and can carry out directions without having to be operated by a human at every step.
"The excitement about this technology is it is autonomous," Klunder said. "So we're not talking about people having to drive with toggle switches."
The boats move with other vessels, selecting the best route while sensing obstacles.
The US military sees the innovation as saving sailors' lives and strengthening the navy's edge.
But sceptics have warned of the dangers from the spread of armed robots without sufficient rules and debate about their use.
The technology, which the navy has dubbed CARACaS (Control Architecture for Robotic Agent Command and Sensing), was "very low-cost" and could be installed easily on the patrol boats or other ships, Klunder said.
"We're talking thousands [of dollars]. We're not talking millions to adapt what we already have existing craft in our fleet," he said. "So we're not going out and buying new patrol craft."
 

Recent dangerous mid-air encounters show assertive China, US general says
A spate of dangerous mid-air encounters between American military aircraft and Chinese planes over the Pacific Ocean are the result of China's increasingly assertive strategies to project power far beyond its borders, the top US Air Force commander in the region said.
General Herbert Carlisle, head of US Pacific Air Forces, said China's naval and air forces were "very much continuing to push" and becoming more active in international waters and airspace in Asia.
"They still talk about the century of humiliation in the last century. They still talk about this as the rise of China," said Carlisle, who will leave his post this month. "They still talk about this as their great nation. And they want to continue to demonstrate that." Carlisle said US and Chinese forces are frequently encountering each other in parts of the East China and South China seas where they rarely came into contact in the past.
Since commissioning its first aircraft carrier two years ago, China's navy has conducted more exercises further from its shores, patrolling areas in disputed waters where Chinese companies are drilling for oil.
The Washington Post


US Navy close to using robotic patrol boats as escort vessels

An unmanned boat operates during trials on the James River in Virginia. The testing has been hailed as a success by the navy. Photo: Reuters

Remotely operated craft take up ship escort positions during the trials on the James River. Photo: AFP

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Asia

In the event of conflict, America could use fleet to block Malacca Strait, key supply route for oil to China, with one sailor controlling 20 boats


The US navy says it is close to using armed, robotic patrol boats without sailors on board to escort and defend warships moving through the Malacca Strait, one of the world's busiest sea lanes and a key shipping route for China.
