Reuters has released video footage of a collision between two cutting-edge drone boats off the coast of California last month. The incident appears to be the first high profile case of an accidental drone-on-drone vessel casualty.
The brief clip comes from a trial exercise involving multiple unmanned systems. The footage shows an immobile gray drone adrift, and a black drone approaching from starboard at high speed. The black drone hit a wave, rode up out of the water, struck and rode over the foredeck of the immobile drone, and appeared to continue on its course.
Reuters reports that prior to impact, the gray drone had stopped moving unexpectedly, and that Navy operators were attempting to diagnose a software issue with it when the black drone hit it.
The outlet identified the drones involved as models produced by Saronic and BlackSea Technologies. By visual identification, the drifting drone appears to be a Saronic Corsair, and the drone that hit it appears to be a BlackSea Technologies GARC. Both firms have been contacted for confirmation.
It was the second such incident in two months. On June 23, a BlackSea boat that was under tow accelerated unexpectedly after a human participant sent “an inadvertent command that turned the engine on.” It hit a support boat, capsizing the vessel and tossing the skipper into the water. The skipper was unhurt.
The GARC is a widely fielded unmanned boat designed for high speed operation in combat. It is in full production and more than 100 units have been delivered. With a 1,000-pound payload, its mission sets include ISR, strike, survey work and interdiction. It supports both autonomous and remote-control operation.
Human-induced collisions occur regularly, but the unmanned incidents have attracted extra attention. Reuters reports that they are part of a string of setbacks that have prompted Pentagon leaders to question the success of Naval Sea Systems Command’s Program Executive Office Unmanned and Small Combatants (PEO USC). The NAVSEA division is home of the troubled Constellation-class frigate program, the scaled-back Littoral Combat Ship program, and the Navy’s various unmanned-ship initiatives, like the newly-announced Modular Attack Surface Craft (MASC) program. PEO USC chief Rear Adm. Kevin Smith was removed from command of the division in May.
The reported shakeup at PEO USC comes as the Navy prepares to deploy more funding than ever for unmanned vessel acquisition. The One Big Beautiful Bill Act allocated $1.5 billion for small USVs, $2.1 billion for medium USVs, $188 million for unmanned vessel R&D, and $174 million for an autonomy test center.
