Here Are Some Details About the Mystery USV Cruising San Diego Bay this Week
- USV Catbus (name as shown on MarineTraffic) heading out to sea trials from San Diego – September 14, 2021 #usvcatbus
- * photos courtesy of @cjr1321 pic.twitter.com/3VuBRcMuxT
- – WarshipCam (@WarshipCam) September 14, 2021
For the USV spotted in San Diego Bay on Monday, there are plenty of crystal clear pictures, reliable accounts of sightings, and even the confirmation of the Pentagon. (More impressive is the DOD released the information on this type of vessel back in January, and it has yet to get redacted.)
The USV spent the past week tooling around San Diego Harbor toward San Clemente Island. Since it’s a surface vessel, it doesn’t dive underneath the water. This makes it easier to spot when it moves past the shoreline, allowing onlookers the opportunity to photograph the vessel.
What most know about the vessel is that its name is USV CATBUS. It is unmanned but equipped with large solar panels, antennas, radar, and a special maritime camera.
This high-tech catamaran-without-a-sail may also have a FLIR ball, which measures the moisture to ensure the vessel doesn’t get swamped out there.
There is speculation that the increase in USV testing is part of a mission related to Afghanistan, but that is not confirmed. Having a USV capable of deploying missiles or conducting surveillance with a remote crew is undoubtedly an asset to the US Navy, wherever it gets deployed.
For now, USV CATBUS and other USVs will continue to use San Diego and the Pacific Ocean for training purposes.
About the name Catbus: This may be a nod to a character in Hayao Miyazaki’s My Neighbor Totoro...
Note: The Banner photo in this article is courtesy of Twitter user @cjr1321
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A new type of uncrewed vessel, identified by the MarineTraffic reporting system as ‘USV Catbus’ has been sighted in San Diego harbor. It seems to be a previously unseen U.S. Navy project, similar to the mysterious Wave Glider craft that have washed up in Scotland and elsewhere, but with one big difference: it’s fast.
The USV Catbus, a solar-powered uncrewed vessel spotted in San Diego harbor with a surprising turn ... [+] of speed
@cjr1321Twitter user @cjr1321 is a photographer who takes pictures of shipping in San Diego. Having spotted the unusual craft from a distance on Sept. 13, they decided to get a closer look.
“I drove over to the pier the other day to see whether I could get better photographs and I ended up having a brief conversation with a guy (assume engineer) working on the USV,” the photographer told me. “Here is what I learned. They are from Raytheon and the vessel is a prototype using a converted racing catamaran.”
We also know the craft is about 18-feet long, and powered by an array of solar cells. According to the engineer it can withstand waves of about 3 feet, so it is not intended for operations in rough seas, and the vessel can be packed into a shipping container for rapid transfer anywhere in the world. The engineer said the USV Catbus will tow a small acoustic array and travels at up to 13 knots, or 15 mph.
The USV Catbus loaded on its trailer. Transportability appears to be a selling point: it can be ... [+] packed up and flown anywhere in the world.
@cjr1321The U.S. Navy has already demonstrated a system called SHARC (Sensor Hosting Autonomous Remote Craft) that combines the Wave Glider with Boeing BA -2.3% acoustic sensors for submarine detection; this may be the setup used with the USV Catbus, or it may be a Raytheon-developed alternative.
“Its previous location was near Raytheon defense in Rhode Island and
it is now in San Diego,” says @cjr1321. “So I may assume that it has
something to do with the U.S. Navy. They did sea trials yesterday and
were directly off of San Clemente Island which is U.S. Navy controlled.”
The story of the USV Catbus were first posted online by @WarshipCam on Sept. 13 with @cjr1321’s photos and later video of the craft on the move.
It is its speed which marks the Catbus out from previous USVs. The Wave Glider, made by Liquid Robotics, is a 10-foot-long craft resembling a surfboard with solar cells to power mission systems, but propulsion comes from an underwater arrangement which taps into wave energy. This gives it effectively unlimited endurance – in 2012 a Wave Glider crossed the Pacific Ocean — but it typically sails at just 1.5 knots / 2 mph. The U.S. Navy has operated a fleet of Wave Gliders for intelligence gathering and other missions since 2016.
Saildrone is a similar robot craft used for hurricane research — it’s a robust vessel with a rigid, high-tech sail that can achieve speeds of 2 to 6 knots, according to the makers. Australian company Ocius has developed an unmanned vessel called Bluebottle that combines wind, wave and solar power for a typical speed of 5 knots and which is being acquired by the Australian government for extended patrols off the coast.
The USV Catbus is likely an experimental craft rather than a prototype, and it appears to have been designed for speed. MarineTraffic clocked it moving at over 17 knots/20 mph on Sept. 14 , even faster than originally claimed. This speed is likely related to the racing hull, which offers less drag than previous designs. Solar cells may not drive the USV Catbus at high speed continuously, but could recharge batteries to provide a sprint capability where needed.
It is not clear from the images if the Catbus has hydrofoils to ‘fly’ above the water, a feature of modern racing yachts, which can skim along with minimal friction at speeds as low as 8 knots. Hydrofoiling allows a small vessel to reach good speeds with minimal energy expenditure.
Until the design can cope with the sort of heavy seas that other small uncrewed vessels can weather, the USV Catbus will only have limited value, but this will probably follow once it has been optimized for speed. Looking ahead, large numbers of small naval drones will be able to cover a wide area, with the potential to one day create an inescapable net for submarines. That might give pause to anyone about to spend tens of billions on a new submarine fleet.
Mystery Vessel Seen In San Diego Likely U.S. Navy 'Narco Sub' Transport
A mysterious vessel observed in San Diego harbor appears to be a prototype low-profile transport drone (USV - uncrewed surface vessel). The design is strongly reminiscent of many so-called "narco submarines". Like so much in this field, most of it is hidden below the surface.
The craft has an extremely low freeboard, just over 0.3 meters (1 ft)
but the draft is five times more at 1.5 meters (5 ft). It is 21 meters
(69 ft) long but just 2 meters (6.5 ft) across. The hull appears to be
shaped like a sailing yacht but with twin engines so likely twin-screw.
has been observed operating at speeds of up to 11.3 knots, which is also
typical of narco-submarines.
The vessel is registered in the U.S. as 65LP2202 and is reporting its
position on MMSI 338482087 as a pleasure craft. It appears to have
sailed from Norfolk, Virginia, to San Diego. Both ports are closely tied
to the U.S. Special Operations Command (USSOCOM). The photo and video
were taken by San Diego watcher @cjr1321 and shared on Twitter/X via @WarshipCam.
In the center of the craft there is a large square tarpaulin which
appears to be over an open hold. This would be for the cargo. There is a
simple A-Frame mast towards the back which mounts a navigation radar
and other aids. This may be folding or removable and is possibly a
requirement for testing at this stage. At the stern plastic covers what
appears to be a flat satellite communication antenna, possibly Starlink.
There is no accommodation for the crew. While it has been seen being
operated by two persons using a hand-held control box, this is a strong
indication that it is an uncrewed platform. Additionally, it has been
observed in company with a U.S. Navy boat with an AUV (autonomous
underwater vehicle) handling system. This strongly associates it with
uncrewed programs.
Photo by @cjr1321 via @WarshipCam
Low Visibility Craft Semi-Submersible dolphin delivery vehicle.
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