The Royal Navy of the United Kingdom has officially unveiled Europe’s first large-scale autonomous submarine, the Excalibur. The new-generation unmanned underwater vehicle weighs exactly 21 tons and is 12 meters long.
The United Kingdom has announced its giant autonomous submarine
The Excalibur was produced as part of a three-year research and development program called “Project Cetus.” The platform will go down in the records as the largest autonomous underwater vehicle the navy has ever tested. The prototype is not planned to participate in a mission; instead, it will be used in technology tests for next-generation underwater systems.
With a mission range of 1,600 kilometers, the Excalibur can perform long-term operations at depths that manned submarines cannot reach. In addition, thanks to its modular design, it can be adapted to different types of missions. The vehicle, which draws attention with its open architectural structure, is equipped to provide high efficiency, especially in intelligence missions.
Excalibur has the capacity to be used in stealth-based missions in areas where enemy activity is intense. However, before this process, the vehicle will undergo two years of sea trials. The field data obtained from these tests will be used in the development of the navy’s autonomous underwater systems.
The introduction of Excalibur; together with the recently announced autonomous submarine project called “Herne”, revealed that the UK’s investments in this field have accelerated. So what do you think about this? You can easily share your views with us in the comments section below.
