GULFPORT, Miss. — For the first time, the Navy allowed the media into a nondescript compound on the Mississippi coast, offering a glimpse of an unusual vessel slated to join the fleet by the end of the year.
It’s here — with its high ceilings, dusty floors and machinery hum — where the Navy’s second drone warship, Sea Hunter II, is being built and bred for battle.
“Right now we are about six months from the water,” Barry Dreyfus, CEO of United States Marine Inc., said as reporters walked alongside the vessel’s narrow hull. “This long and skinny hull means it will cut through the water with less drag and be able to stay out at sea for a long time,” he said.
Unlike a traditional warship, Sea Hunter II and its predecessor, Sea Hunter, are designed to traverse open waters without a single crew member. The deck is clear of handrails and ladders. Below deck, computers and neatly layered cables take the place of mess areas, heads and a galley.
“Everything has to be completely automated and redundant because there is nobody on board to fix it,” said Dan Brintzinghoffer, vice president of maritime business development at Leidos, as we stood on top of the deck.
Article source: https://www.cnbc.com/2020/03/11/navy-next-drone-warship-sea-hunter.html