To: Taki who wrote (123717 ) 12/4/2003 12:49:10 AM From: Taki Read Replies (1) | Respond to of 150070 RDXM.07.An interesting post below.Also RDXM has never had this kind of volume it has the last couple of days. Wonder where it will go one day.ragingbull.lycos.com By: captainmiguel 03 Dec 2003, 02:19 PM EST Msg. 616 of 617 Jump to msg. # SOMETHING ELSE I FOUND This is a good article,looks like progress. jedonline.com Rights to Naval USV Purchased The watercraft that forms the basis for a current US Navy SPARTAN unmanned surface vehicle (USV) trial will be acquired by Radix Marine (Silverdale, WA), the company announced on August 7. Radix said it paid Team One $750,000 for the intellectual-property rights to the GB Challenger Class Craft, which it will own outright following a five-year capital lease. The lifeboat found on many naval ships, the GB Challenger ranges in size from 7-16 m and is powered by twin 660-HP Caterpillar diesel engines that drive jet-propulsion units. International Maritime Platforms International, a Radix subsidiary, was previously selected to help adapt the watercraft for use in the US Navy's SPARTAN Advanced Concept Technology Demonstration (ACTD) of USVs. In a paper describing the six-year, $53-million Spartan ACTD, which should be completed between 2006 and 2007, the US Navy said USVs can help provide surveillance of battlespace activities both above and below the surface of the water, including scouting out and even interdicting potential threats like small boats, as well as searching for mines. Gary Steigerwald, a spokesman for the Naval Undersea Warfare Center (Newport, RI), said that maybe four USVs will have been developed by the end of the demonstration. As conceived by under the SPARTAN ACTD, which is also being sponsored by the US Army and the Republic of Singapore, the USVs are rigid-hull inflatable boats that are equipped with radar; video and infrared cameras; a navigation system; and tactical common datalink systems that ships, helicopters, ground stations, unmanned aerial vehicles, or other USVs would use to control the USV. Raytheon and Northrop Grumman are handling the integration of off-the-shelf technology that will allow the SPARTAN vehicles to perform functions such as explosive detection, bottom-submarine detection, or ocean-bottom mapping. - Ted McKenna Miguel