U.S Navy’s New Ship Which Can Operate Without A Crew For 90 Days

Damen Shipyards and Blue Water Autonomy are jointly building a new Liberty Class Ship for the U.S Navy under its Modular Surface Craft Program.

The vessel will be fully autonomous and will operate in open waters without a crew for atleast 90 days at a stretch!

It will function as a support ship for manned naval vessels, enabling the personnel and crew to focus on the complicated tasks of an operation or mission.

The first vessel will be launched in the coming weeks, per reports.

Adoption of the Damen Stan Patrol 6009 design

The companies decided to use an existing naval design, the Damen San Patrol 6009, for the autonomous Liberty class ship, making mass production easier, cheaper and faster.

This way, the firms can also skip the long naval production protocols, which involve several years of testing and validation before a new design can become operational.

Around 300 ships have the Stan Patrol 6009’s axe bow hull, which further proves its durability and seaworthiness, and so it was chosen for the Liberty-class as well.

The vessels are 58 m long, with a 10,000 nm range and a payload capacity of more than 150 metric tons.

The Damen Stan Petrol design was chosen because it’s versatile and can be modified.

Its vertical bow decreases slamming and increases safety, comfort and performance in challenging maritime environments and rough weather conditions.

The design helps the vessel achieve speeds up to 25 knots and gives it an extensive operational range, something which is a must for autonomous ships like the Liberty Class, which can operate for extended periods without human intervention.

They can also carry a significant payload and can be adapted for various roles, such as hybrid, diesel-electric propulsion to reduce emissions.

Blue Water Autonomy stated that, as the Navy is pushing hard to expand its naval fleet, focusing on decentralised operations and deployment of unmanned assets which can support conventional warships with a significant crew, the work the company is doing in this direction is quite important.

Blue Water Autonomy To Construct 10-20 Liberty Class Ships Annually

The Liberty Class Ships are being constructed at the Conrad Shipyard in Louisiana, on automated panel lines with robotic assembly systems and robotic welding processes, which have sped up the production process considerably, per reports.

Per the companies, using advanced tech is allowing them to build many vessels at once, and so they are aiming for atleast 10 to 20 per year.

Though the ships have a previously tested and successful design, the Liberty Class is different from the Stan Patrol 6009 in a major aspect.

It is an autonomous ship which does not have crew quarters below the deck. There are no requirements for heavy plumbing, heating or ventilation systems or even air-conditioning, which is typical on vessels with a crew.

Per Blue Water, the elimination of all these onboard systems has reduced costs and manufacturing time.

If everything goes according to schedule, the first Liberty-Class Ship will be launched in March, 2026.

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