Patrol boat autonomy trial for Australian navy to be performed by Austal
NewsOctober 05, 2022
CANBERRA, Australia. Austal Australia will use a decommissioned Armidale-class patrol boat for the test and evaluation of autonomous and remotely operated systems, the company announced in a statement.
The Patrol Boat Autonomy Trial (PBAT) is a collaboration between Austal, the Trusted Autonomous Systems Defence Cooperative Research Centre, and the Royal Australian Navy Warfare Innovation Navy (WIN) Branch.
"The Trial will establish robotic, automated and autonomous elements on a patrol boat, providing a proof-of-concept demonstrator, for optionally crewed or autonomous operations for the RAN into the future," the statement reads. "The Trial will also explore the legal, regulatory pathways and requirements of operating an autonomous vessel at sea."
Austal manufactured the patrol boat, and subcontractor L3Harris is the lead on the autonomous vessel technology, according to the statement.
