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| Science & Technology |
| Trump is building a $5 billion fleet of kamikaze robot boats to unleash 'hell' on enemies... but they keep going rogue |
| 2025-09-10 |
| [Daily Mail, where America gets its news] As a tugboat captain pulled an unmanned U.S. military drone boat out of Naval Base Ventura County in California recently, there seemed little danger. But then, the robot vessel suddenly turned itself on, zoomed forward and bashed into the vessel towing it, capsizing the tug and throwing the unfortunate skipper overboard. Weeks later, in another exercise, a military robo-boat stalled and was smashed into from the side by another speeding drone vessel . The fast-moving robot boat hit the stationary one's bow, flew into the air and over it, and landed with a splash. Details of the damage are unknown, but for the Pentagon such incidents are an inauspicious start as it moves into a new era of robotic maritime warfare. President Donald Trump wants a vast fleet of such drone vessels, including kamikaze speedboats, to be able to swarm off Taiwan by 2027, when China has said its military will be ready to invade the island. The president's recently-passed 'Big Beautiful Bill' included almost $5 billion for 'maritime autonomous systems' and testing has been going on at venues including Ventura since April. On Tuesday, President Trump blasted the leaders of China, Russia and North Korea for 'conspiring against the United States of America' as they assembled to watch a massive military parade in Beijing. Chinese leader Xi Jinping hosted the parade to mark 80 years since WWII and showed off his country's latest weapons, including a laser that could blind human pilots. Fleets of unmanned boats, along with aerial drones and robot submarines, are key to America's so-called 'hellscape' strategy to defend Taiwan. 'I want to turn the Taiwan Strait into an unmanned hellscape using a number of classified capabilities,' Admiral Sam Paparo, Commander, U.S. Indo-Pacific Command, said recently. 'So that I can make their lives utterly miserable for a month, which buys me the time for the rest of everything.' He said that would 'offer the world a short, sharp war so that it is a fait accompli before the world can get their act together.' As the sea drone plan develops U.S. defense officials have been watching closely the use of unmanned surface attack vessels by Ukraine. The Ukrainian ones look like speedboats, are loaded with explosive payloads, and can cost as little as $250,000. According to Bryan Clark of the Hudson Institute: 'In Taiwan, they're looking at using these as part of this "hellscape" concept...where they basically put a bunch of these little boats in the water when it looks like China might invade. 'And they're just going to go after Chinese amphibious ships on their way in, and it's a pretty easy shot for them, because the Chinese ships are coming at you, you just need to drive at them and explode.' Two years ago the Pentagon started a $1 billion program called Replicator to produce thousands of robot boats and aerial drones. But, in addition to the crashes, there have been other setbacks. In May, Rear Admiral Kevin Smith, the top officer for 'unmanned and small combatants programs' was relieved after a complaint was made against him. A Navy spokesman said: 'The Navy maintains the highest standards for leaders and holds them accountable when those standards are not met.' There have also been reports of a paused software contract. A key Navy document, known as Project 33, that drone boats are still considered the way forward. 'This navigation plan drives toward two strategic ends: readiness for the possibility of war with the People’s Republic of China by 2027 and enhancing the Navy’s long-term advantage,' it says. 'By 2027, we will integrate proven robotic and autonomous systems for routine use by the commanders who will employ them.' |
| Posted by:Skidmark |
| #5 |
| Posted by: Anguper Hupomosing9418 2025-09-10 19:42 |
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| Posted by: Skidmark 2025-09-10 17:36 |
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| Posted by: 3dc 2025-09-10 15:16 |
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| Posted by: Anguper Hupomosing9418 2025-09-10 12:35 |
| #1 |
| Posted by: Skidmark 2025-09-10 08:11 |