AI-Equipped Underwater Drones Helping US Navy Scan for Threats
- Technology halves time needed to identify hard-to-find mines
- Sailors review imagery to safeguard commercial shipping
In an image provided by the US Navy, sonar technicians monitor sonar contacts at sea.
Photographer: James R. Evans/US Navy/Getty ImagesThis article is for subscribers only.
The US Navy is boosting its deployment of artificial intelligence that automatically detect targets after successfully testing it on underwater drones, according to defense officials.
The effort from the Pentagon’s Defense Innovation Unit, a California-based office that aims to bring commercial technology into the military, has helped cut in half the time it takes to comb the ocean floor for underwater mines, said Alex Campbell, the unit’s Navy service lead.