AUTONOMOUS VEHICLES IN SUPPORT OF NAVAL OPERATIONS

The present publication is fully dedicated to the AV, standing for the Autonomous Vehicles - these vehicles have been in wide use in the course of many military operations that took place in the last half-century or even more than that. Among the examples of their use we could note the satellites and torpedoes, target drones and cruise missiles etc.

They have also been found practical in the civil sector in such fields as the disposal of the explosive materials, measurement and work conducted in the radioactive environment, undersea researches, robotic manufacturing and others. The latest military experiences with the autonomous vehicles have consistently shown their high value in a broad range of missions; the expected technical developments of these vehicles are very promoting and imply the significant increase of their importance in the naval operations of the nearest future.

The above mentioned developments are enabled, and actually limited, by the progress in the field of computation and robotics, networking, navigation, communications, propulsion and powering, and of course construction materials. This publication may be treated as a forward-looking professional discussion of the existing naval operational environment plus the vision for the Marine Corps/Navy, naval mission needs as well as potential applications of the autonomous vehicles together with the limitations imposed...