Rolls-Royce Wants To Build An Autonomous Naval Ship Driven By AI

With the world currently seeming to undergo a modern arms race involving artificial intelligence, Rolls-Royce wants to join in and create a naval ship that is capable of functioning without a crew. The luxury car maker basically wants to build an autonomous craft that can perform missions involving surveillance, mine detection, and patrolling with only an AI as the helm.

The company provided details with regards to the vessel it is trying to create in a press release, noting how the ship would have a range of 3,500 nautical miles. It seems Rolls-Royce is going all out with the craft as well, noting that it could operate for 100 days.

“The vessel concept is capable of operating beyond the horizon for over 100 days, will displace 700 tonnes and reach speeds above 25 knots. The 60m long vessel is designed to perform a range of single role missions, for example, patrol & surveillance, mine detection or fleet screening,” the press release reads.

“At the heart of the vessel is a robust and reliable power dense propulsion system. This combines Rolls-Royce’s proven expertise in both gas turbines and diesels with a demonstrable track record in electric propulsion, energy storage and propulsors.”

This isn’t the first time that the company has expressed ambitions to offer unscrewed ships. As The Verge reports, the luxury car brand has actually been developing such a technology since 2013.

With regards to this particular announcement, environmentalists will likely love the fact that the ship will be powered by solar panels intended to provide the ship with 3,000kWh of energy. With AI as the potential influencing factor, this is only to be expected.

It’s worth noting that Rolls-Royce is not the only company that is developing unmanned vessels capable of long-range trips. Some shipping companies are also starting to create their own autonomous fleet because of the lower costs and increased efficiency.