Self-driving US warship to counter Russia and China naval investments

The US military has christened an experimental self-driving warship designed to hunt for enemy submarines, a major advance in robotic warfare at the core of America’s strategy to counter Chinese and Russian naval investments.

The 40m-long unarmed prototype, dubbed Sea Hunter, is the naval equivalent of Google’s self-driving car, designed to cruise on the ocean’s surface for two or three months at a time — without a crew or anyone controlling it remotely.

That kind of endurance and autonomy could make it highly efficient and cost effective.