WASHINGTON (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 18th September, 2020) The US Navy has ordered plans to be drawn up for the construction of a large, unmanned surface ship, Lockheed Martin said in a press release.
"Lockheed Martin will provide a study for a proven, integrated and capable payload ship, able to patrol for extended durations, as part of the US Navy's Large Unmanned Surface Vessel (LUSV) competition," the release said on Thursday.
Lockheed Martin said in the release that it is partnering with the Vigor Works Company in Portland, Oregon, to build the vessel. The $7 million design, to be delivered within a year, will use a commercial ship� augmented with automation, autonomy and cybersecurity elements to house a payload, the release explained.
The design will leverage Lockheed Martin's platform-agnostic Sikorsky MATRIX technology that has been used to fly a helicopter from a wireless tablet, and its AXIS control technology now used on more than half of US Navy surface ships to manage engineering and machinery controls, the release said.
