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TECHNOLOGY Friday 1 September 2017

U.S. Navy leader considers unmanned vehicles to increase power

By JENNIFER McDERMOTT officers to Newport, Rhode ing to figure out how to adapting commercial, off- ance, command and con-
Associated Press Island, this month to talk increase naval power as the-shelf unmanned un- trol and other areas are
NEWPORT, R.I. (AP) — Presi- about accelerating their quickly as he can because dersea vehicles for use by needed before the Navy
dent Donald Trump and development. The future the Navy is being chal- the military. could assign anything
Navy leaders say the na- Navy is going to be very lenged at sea by very ca- Dozens of unmanned un- more complex, like surveil-
tion needs about 350 ships, different from today’s fleet, pable foreign naval forces. dersea vehicles are being lance, she added.
roughly 75 more ships than he said. He said he’s looking at ve- used by the Navy to sense The Navy could potentially
the fleet has today. “I can guarantee that it’s hicles that can do a range oceanographic conditions get by with fewer ships if
But there isn’t money in the some of the larger, more
defense budget to buy a capable unmanned ve-
lot of new ships at once, hicles could someday reli-
and they take years to ably do some of the easier
build. missions ships do, but it’s
Adm. John Richardson, the not a one-for-one replace-
chief of naval operations, ment, said Bryan Clark, a
says they could get clos- senior fellow at the Center
er to the target faster by for Strategic and Budget-
counting unmanned ves- ary Assessments.
sels with capabilities similar An unmanned vehicle
to a manned ship— a new could lay mines and con-
twist on the definition of a duct surveillance but it
ship. couldn’t board a pirate
Unmanned undersea ve- ship or help train a foreign
hicles currently used by the In this Tuesday, July 31, 2012 file photo the “Razor,” an autonomous underwater vehicle (AUV) sits Navy, added Clark, the
Navy aren’t at the point in a lab at the Naval Undersea War Center in Middletown, RI. lead author on a paper
now where they could re- Associated Press about the Navy’s future
place manned platforms. force.
While they can complete not going to be building of things, including acting and look for mines, with su- “It doesn’t mean you buy
a task to support a mis- more of the same thing we as sensors and carrying pervision by Navy person- an extra-large unmanned
sion, they can’t complete have right now,” he said. weapons, and can be net- nel, said Jenny Roberts, the undersea vehicle and buy
an entire mission on their “Because that will not be worked in with the rest of deputy for undersea influ- one less submarine,” he
own, and none are wea- the Navy that the nation the fleet. ence at the Navy’s Under- said. “You have to figure
ponized, according to the needs to secure itself and At the Naval Undersea sea Warfare Division. out to what degree it re-
Navy. promote its prosperity.” Warfare Center Division Technological advance- places a submarine and
Richardson brought senior Richardson said he’s try- Newport, researchers are ments in autonomy, endur- do the math.”
Small unmanned under-
Apple expected to unveil next sea vehicles are 3 inches
to 10 inches in diameter
iPhones at Sept. 12 showcase and cost less than $1 mil-
lion, and medium ones
SAN FRANCISCO (AP) — ebrate the device’s 10th are 10 inches to 21 inches
Apple’s faithful fans and in- anniversary. and cost up to about $3
vestors won’t have to wait Even if a fancier version is million, Roberts said. Large
much longer to see what unveiled, Apple will also unmanned undersea ve-
the iPhone maker has in likely announce upgrades hicles are 21 inches to 84
store next. to last year’s iPhone 7 and inches and cost tens of mil-
The company sent out invi- iPhone 7 Plus. lions.
tations Thursday to set Sept. It’s Apple’s first event at the Extra-large vehicles are
12 as the date for an an- Steve Jobs Theater at its greater than 84 inches in di-
nual post-Labor Day show- new headquarters in Cu- ameter. The Navy doesn’t
case. pertino, California. currently have any of that
As usual, the famously se- Apple’s invitation seemed size, Roberts said.
cretive Apple didn’t say to hint that something col- The Congressional Budget
what’s on tap, but this is orful is in store as it present- Miami Beach, Fla. Apple has set Sept. 12, 2017, as the date for Office has estimated that
typically when the compa- ed a multi-hued depiction an annual post-Labor Day showcase. the cost of building and
ny unveils new iPhones. of the company’s famous Associated Press operating 355 ships would
Much of the anticipation logo. That choice will like- more vivid colors than pre- intends to show off an average $102 billion annu-
is swirling around whether ly spur speculation that vious models. Rival phones upgrade to its Apple TV ally through 2047, which is
Apple will show off a dra- Apple’s new phone will from Samsung already use streaming box that will more than one-third higher
matically different type of feature a screen with or- OLED. be capable of handling than the amount appropri-
iPhone with a sleeker and ganic light-emitting diode, There have also been re- ultra-high definition, or 4K, ated for fiscal year 2016 for
even bigger screen to cel- or OLED, which will display ports that the company video.q today’s fleet.q