When it comes to unmanned vehicles, those by land and by air seem to steal the limelight, but what about those by sea?
Melbourne, Florida-based L3Harris Technologies has delivered more than 125 Unmanned Surface Vehicle (USV) systems currently used by businesses, researchers, universities, and, most notably, the U.S. and international navies.
On March 2, 2021, L3 Harris announced a new contract from the U.S. Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) to design a new autonomous surface ship concept.
L3Harris was selected for phase one of the two-phase No Manning Required Ship (NOMARS) program to demonstrate unmanned ship feasibility and reliability when performing long missions.
The company collaborated with naval architecture and marine engineering firm VARD Marine to validate the architecture, hull, and mechanical and electrical systems.
L3Harris designed an advanced operating system that has the ability to make decisions and determine actions without human interaction. The hope is that the concept will optimize autonomous surface ship operations during future U.S. Navy missions.
L3 has a hand in some incredible projects. The company recently received $89 million, of a possible $1.2 billion, from the U.S. Space Force and U.S. Space Command to track objects in space. And the company’s avionics, sensors, and transceivers are key components aboard the Mars 2020 mission.
L3Harris Technologies does about $18 billion in annual revenue and employs some 48,000 workers.
