During trials off Plymouth in mid-October, BAE Systems’ autonomous RIB (Rigid Inflatable Boat) was successfully controlled from the operations room of HMS Argyll. Here we look in detail at the development of this system.
For modern navies, autonomous boats offer great potential for applications including anti-piracy operations, border control, persistent intelligence gathering, maritime security and force protection. Most importantly, they can be operated in areas of high risk without placing sailors or marines in harm’s way. The RN is already building its USV experience with specialised mine warfare boats and the small MADFOX reconnaissance boat but the autonomous RIB offers a more flexible tool to enhance or even replace some of the capabilities of standard ship’s boats carried by the surface fleet.
Work on the concept began in 2014 BAE Systems started a self-funded research and development project. Halmatic Ltd who had built the Pacific RIBs in service with the RN was purchased by BAES who worked initially with ASV Global, a small Portsmouth-based SME (subsequently bought by L3 Harris) that provided the technology for remote and autonomous boats. The uncrewed RIB was first demonstrated at the Unmanned Warrior exercise in 2016. The event was a significant first step for the RN but identified that much more work would be required around the integration of Maritime Autonomous Systems (MAS) into command and control networks as well as resolving complex safety and regulatory challenges. More specifically the RIB would need to have a useful mission payload if it was to be developed further.
BAES has employed two platforms for the development work so far; the Pacific 24 and the larger (9.5m) Pacific 950. The PAC950 is an older design used primarily by special forces and was utilised in the 2019 trials that included the first live-firing from a remotely controlled RIB. The main development work is focused on the PAC 24 as it makes sense to utilise a boat that is already in service. The technology can easily be retrofitted to existing PAC24s as required and there is long experience of operating the boat in the fleet. The exiting davits fitted to the frigates and destroyers have a maximum 3.5-tonne lifting capability which limits how the PAC24 can be equipped. In the longer term, Type 26 frigates will have a dedicated mission bay handling system (MBHS) with a capacity for larger and more sophisticated craft.
In 2019 the RN published its Naval Autonomy Strategy and awarded BAE Systems a £3.2M contract to develop the Autonomous RIB platform, this contract has subsequently been expanded and amended as the scope has increased. NavyX are responsible for the evaluation work although BAES remain the operator and will provide support and training to naval personnel.
Uncrewed-RIB-Equipment-1The trials from HMS Argyll in October achieved their objectives which were basic regulatory and safety checks as well as launch and recovery tests. Control over the boat was exercised both from temporary stations in the ship’s hangar but also integrated into the ship’s Ops Room. For this trials series, the PAC24 carried a mixed equipment fit, most notably a stabilized MSI 12.7mm gun mounting. Whether under trial or deployed operationally the gun will always be under the control of a human operator making the final decision on engagement and targeting.
Other items fitted to the boat are relatively low cost. The FLIR camera is readily available on the civilian market at around £65k – a fraction of the cost of a milspec equivalent. (The gun mount includes its own high-resolution EO cameras). The compact LRAD can be used to project voice instructions or other sounds up to 1.7km. The Acoustic Shot detection system provides ‘ears’ for the boat that can determine the direction from which shots may have been fired from and classify the weapon used. (Thales has a contract to supply 735 of the systems for the troubled Ajax armoured fighting vehicle programme so there may be a few going spare!)
Control and communication with the RIB is through a line of sight mesh radio which has a maximum useful range of around 15km. Bandwidth is similar to that of the 5G mobile phone network which is adequate for camera feed and controls but radar data has to be processed on board and simplified for transmission back to the ship. It is envisaged that in future satellite-based systems (similar to those that provide WIFI on trains) could be used for longer-range missions.
Theoretically, the P950 could operate for up to 10 days at cruising speed and cover up to 300 nautical miles in pursuit mode, reaching speeds of up to 45 knots, whilst either being remote controlled or on a semi-autonomous mission. The figures for the PAC24 are more modest, with a maximum speed of 32 knots and a range of approximately 100 nautical miles over 12 hours. The increased endurance and reach over a crewed vessel is an attractive force multiplier and a prime reason to develop autonomous RIB capability. However, there is a long way to go before this can become an operational reality. Uncrewed boats have a complex safety case which is why the majority of trials with autonomous boats conducted so far still have humans on board. Collision avoidance using AIS and Radar is relatively straightforward but the image recognition technology is not yet sufficiently mature or trusted enough to replace the human eye. Avoiding a ship or other boats is relatively simple but a child in a canoe or a floating log might be missed. This sensing capability will also eventually have to work at night or in limited visibility and needs to cope with non-cooperative adversaries in small craft that can’t be picked up on radar.
Another significant hurdle to overcome is the recovery routine. During normal boat recovery, a crewed PAC24 is steered up against the side of the ship and the lifting strop is manually attached. This can be done in up to sea state 5 by a skilled crew but it an extremely complex task for an autonomous system. BAES is now working with a specialist SME to develop a cradle for recovery.
Further work will be conducted by BAES in the coming months to prove the technology can be integrated with existing naval ship combat management systems and the RIB will participate in a live firing trial to be conducted sometime in 2022.
Just like my Bait Boat.
Ah, but Jonathon, your bait boat does not have a really cheap and affordable £65k camera on it!
AA
How do you know ?
https://www.flir.eu/products/m400xr/
Thats top of their range. A ‘bait boat’ version might be £15k?
Can see this being used alot for delivering and recovery special ops guys n girls….drop off then go then return with supplies or go hide beyond visual range and then go collect a few days later without someone sat waiting in the boat who could become a hostage if spotted and who wants to be sat waiting alone a few days bobbing up n down. Great also for sentry duty round harbours and anchorage.
Reckon ?
Yes.
Oops…sorry for the one line reply.
I think Mark has a point and perhaps you could elaborate on your reasons for doubting the mode of operation suggested?
AA
Durrr, because there’s no one on board to light the boilers.
Tell me that I’m wrong, but won’t the Rib’s radar be blinded by the boat accelerating as the bow raises out of the water? Even when plaining the bow is quite high! Perhaps the radar and EO sensor need to be raised to make sure the have a continuous clear view.
Details, details mere details.
Software is the key there…
Software only helps you extract data from signals that you have or can infer are there. You can tell as much from the absence of certain data as from the presence of it.
It doesn’t help to create data where there is a large blind spot.
With things like the AWACS you get round the blind spots by flight pattern. Maybe that is the solution here?
Yeah possibly the solution, I used to have all my faith in the British millitary geeks who sorted this stuff out, but the way our millitarys being handled recently makes my faith and trust in them to know what they are doing slowly disappear.
Anyhow what are Space based radars like these days?
Unmanned ? well that’s the way the UK Defence is heading if you ask me. Smallest Army ever, Smallest Airforce ever, smallest Navy ever……….
Unmanned everything is in fashion.But how many crew will be saved by this development?One per RIB? And unmanned air platforms need more people to operate than a manned aircraft.To date the benefits of UCAVs have been neither cost nor manpower saving but greater persistence with ground controllers swapped regularly to avoid fatigue.
I cannot see this as a serious force multiplier.
I would say that your absolutely right. The gain is in persistence, time sitting around in a seaboat is not enjoyable and not something you can maintain long-term.
However I think what your missing is that this – even if it becomes operational – is only a stop gap, I agree that this platform won’t be revolutionary and probably doesn’t really have an operational use but it’s a stepping stone to the future. We have to gain experience somewhere, this is where it starts.
I take your point about experimenting, but this has been going on for several years. Looking at the main missions of RIBs- investigation including boarding, rescue- I don’t see how these can be carried out without a crew. For patrolling a wide area, UAVs will surely be more effective. And they won’t have all the problems mentioned in the article of sensors or weapons trying to operate at zero feet in choppy seas.
In a PAC 24 you usually carry 2-3 people.
Being able to go out and about without a crew onboard is a big force multiplier. From personal experience doing boarding ops a 15-20 Nm mile each way transit in a Pac is not nice. You get cold. You get wet and there is nowhere to go on the thing to get protection from the elements.
The same goes for force protection. Being able to have an armed boat stay on station for hours at a time , to transit at speed and to not need to worry about the crews welfare will be a big bonus.
Recovery back to Mother and recovery /hoisting yes…that is going to need some work.
So they will be very useful by the sounds of it. The trouble is its taking so long, 7 years already. In a competitive world we really need to stand out in this country by getting ahead of the opposition. We know it can be done it just needs the will.
Smallest peni£ ever….ooops I meant smallest millitary ever, just when Poland’s doubling its Army size we are reducing ours, who in the hell thinks having a small ass Army is a good idea!. Tiny Air Force and getting smaller, small Undergunned Navy with ships that can’t even take out enemy ships, An Army too small and being asked to do too much, but hey Atleast we are selling off lots of barracks and Army equipment making it very expensive if we ever want to grow our Army again. The lists so huge and disappointing concerning our millitary and it’s size and what’s expected of it.
Just when the Red Bear is massing 100,000 man invasion force, a modern-day blitzkrieg
https://www.reuters.com/world/europe/ukraine-says-russia-has-nearly-100000-troops-near-its-border-2021-11-13/
https://twitter.com/i/status/1454867890075734024
I think you are missing the point here, the whole Russian build up is a faint, they are really heading to Belarus .
Really ?
They have no need to , indeed they train with Belarus inside their country
We really need an army of 100,000 to 150,000 regulars (like all top economy nations) and 50,000 well trained and equipped, integrated reserves, and 150,000 – 200,000 second reserves of ex personnel able to be called up if needed, why did we stop counting them figures 10 years ago?? We used to have the numbers of ex personnel on contracts to be called up if needed?. Unfortunately they won’t have any gear lol as we are selling thousands of newish army 8×8 trucks, upgraded land rovers, 2000 mastif, ridgebacks ect anti ied armoured vehicles that we should keep for a reserve force. Do we keep any extra vehicles incase we need them??.
We should keep warriors and make a reserve force instead of scrapping them along with the thousands of scout tracked and personnel carriers we are getting rid of. And upgrade 250 challys to make a force worth all the expense of having and keeping tanks, surely we can scrape the barrel and get 250 collected-up. . We should join the European future tank though and become a key player in that , and we should have MBT numbers around 500 like most Similar nations to ours.. The money for new army equipment has already been sorted out so that’s good.
We should hurry up and buy thousands of boxers for our strike brigades and ones with a decent gun.. Ajax could come good or turn to shit who knows it’s at a critical junction right now, and we should stop Ajax being built in Spain as the build quality is really shit, build them in UK .. but we need 1000 of them, 600 is a start though.
Ooops I went of on a rant guys!!
I like the way you think.
Well thanks Nigel
👍🇬🇧
On your bike to Belarus then?
Well I’m proper confused now, It says Sea Anchor, upside down on the starboard bow, why and to whom is it meant for ?
If you look over the tube ‘sea anchor’ is the right way up…….the boat will float in the sea……. and there will be an anchor aboard……..at the bow……..
But, It’s an unmanned boat……. ! I know it’s only a small detail but you got to admit, it’s a very valid one, all things considered …
More of our RIBs should carry 50 Cals…
Yes please!
It’s surprising how much stuff is or has to, be fitted…eod, radar, LRAD, gun system, remote control box..extra aerials …motor control systems. It is a lot of weight.
How would this lot stand up to a burst of AK47 fire though?.
AA
How would you stand up to a burst of AK47 fire yourself?
How would you ?
are you homo stalker?
Oh dear, i think you might be confused yet again….. Why are you posting this using yet another name ? creepy stuff indeed.
It has a gyro stabilised 12.5mm that will outshoot a hand held AK47, or any hand held weapon, at more than point blank range.
So the AK47 would never get close enough for you to find out.
It would also be very lucky if someone with an AK47 managed to take out the gun. Which could then be fired back at them. OK the hull might have holes in it but it would outfight the holder of the AK47 before it went down and as it will have inbuilt buoyancy it will float waterlogged for some time so as long as power is there and the weapon is undamaged it has lethality.
The converse is that an AK47 user **might** take out the gunner rather than the gun The gunner would be a larger target.
You can see the setup being extended to larger calibre weapons as things develop.
The 50 cal has hardly changed over the years and is a proven rugged gun I’m glad the RN is bringing them back, and they should keep enemy’s at a comfortable distance. Did HMS QE get 50s instead of the 4 30mm cannons? If so I wonder how many.
If the 50 cal were gyro stabilised they would be awesome.
I agree they are robust, cheap and reliable.
However, their utility is limited by sea state as that limits the viable range to target.
Yeah and they are Rigid “INFLATABLE “ boats too lol..
Great development, I think. Persistent sentry is what this can provide.
A River B2, for example, can carry 4 RHIBs on its waist. (sacrificing the flight deck, the number can be more than doubled). It could be four 7.5m Pacific RHIB, or two 7.5m and two 9.5 m versions.
If two of them are “modified with autonomous kits”, River B2 will be able to deploy 24hours/7days one autonomous RHIB for sentry task. At the same time, she can send two autonomous RHIB and two manned RHIB when something happens. In support, Puma electric UAV is already there, which will give a good “eyes on sky” at least in short distance.
This small flotilla of 1 OPV and 4 RHIBs with small UAVs will provide good “escort” against suspicious boats when high-value units or merchant vessels are passing some choak-points.
I do not think it is small. Manned RHIB can never provide 24/7 presence, as the crew will be wet and exhausted within a few hours. The development is very significant addition to RN.
“Manned RHIB can never provide 24/7 presence, as the crew will be wet and exhausted within a few hours. The development is very significant addition to RN.”
Anyone who has ever been given that tasking, on other than a balmy day, knows the limitations of the human element.
It’ll be interesting to see a Type 31 next to a Type 23 for size comparison..
Almost double the Size aren’t they?.
I’ve never been on a type 23 just 45s, are the Type 23s any good to serve and live on?, do you feel like a war fught8ng ship that could do damage? Not an under armed vulnerable ship.
As i understand it the 23s had the nickname the “Skoda” class in the beginning didn’t they?. And they didn’t even have a gun to begin with, Or anti air missiles!? They suposedly were to work with the Forts like Fort Victoria and her 3 anti SUB choppers, the forts were also suposed to carry the anti air missiles for the type 23s and their protection didnt they?…
Sorry guys so many questions…
Size isn’t everything, as my wife often tries to reassure me.
Yeah size isn’t everything lol, but in Warship terms it’s bloody got to help having larger than too small. The 31s will be huge compared to 23s and that must help out with crew morale. The RN certainly think bigger is better, shame we are building bigger but less numbers.
The T23 was, as you say, meant to be largely unarmed.
It was supposed to have been a super cheap way of building a frigate.
In the end it turned into a very good multi role platform.
T23 accommodation isn’t that good by modern standard although was much better than say Counties or T21.
The bigger T31 hull increases compartment action abs separation of critical bits so increases survivability. The high sea state handling will also be better for the bigger hull.
T31 can also take big upgrades and has weight, space and power margins for them. Lots to be positive about.
Maybe this is why they aren’t fitting the 30mm to the QE class.