Thread: Autonomous Spy Sub Can Travel For Three Months

A large submarine that can patrol the seas for three months without any human intervention has been unveiled by Boeing.

The 52-foot Echo Voyager will be used for surveillance, radiation detection, oil and gas exploration and water sampling.

Data collected can then be simply beamed back to mission controllers whenever the submarine rises to the surface.

Boeing executive Darryl Davis said: "Echo Voyager is a new approach to how unmanned undersea vehicles will operate and be used in the future.

"Our investments in innovative technologies such as autonomous systems are helping our customers affordably meet mission requirements now and in the years to come."

Echo Voyager can operate at a maximum depth of 11,000 feet for up to three months at a time.

It does not need a dedicated support ship, and can find its own way back to port when its mission is over.

Boeing says the submarine can avoid objects, as well as take, store and transmit data collected automatically.

Boeing's Lance Towers said: "We're very confident in our software. We've reused the things that have been validated. Inventing something new, you add an element of risk."

Autonomous Spy Sub Can Travel For Three Months