Kraken3 Scout Medium: Autonomous hydrofoil surface vehicle for kamikaze drones
The Kraken3 Scout Medium is designed to deploy kamikaze drones from the sea during military operations. The boat uses hydrofoil technology.
(Image: Kraken Maritime Technology)
At the Special Operation Forces Week Conference in Tampa, Florida, the British company Kraken Maritime Technology presented the unmanned surface vehicle Kraken3 Scout Medium, from which kamikaze drones such as the Switchblade 600 and 300 can be deployed from the water. The boat can be operated completely autonomously with the collaborative autonomy system “HaloSwarm” developed by Kraken, or remotely controlled by a human operator.
The Kraken3 Scout Medium is around 8.3 m long. The hull can carry payloads of up to 600 kg. Two areas are designed for different payloads. These could be drones, material or even soldiers. The main focus of use is likely to be on military kamikaze drones, which are then launched from the boat.
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There should be enough space for this. The boat can accommodate “a lot” of Switchblade 600 and 300 drones from the US manufacturer Aerovironment. These are tubular drones that can be used for reconnaissance and attacking enemy targets. Switchblade 600 has a range of around 40 km, Switchblade 300 flies at targets up to a distance of 10 km. There is also an improved version of the Switchblade 300 that can fly up to 30 km. The drone can also be equipped with reconnaissance electronics or a warhead. It is then called the “Blackwing”. The boat can also be equipped with a drone defense system such as Titan 4 to fend off enemy drones from the sea.
Autonomous and remote-controlled missions
The boat can carry out military missions completely autonomously. However, human monitoring and target clearance are interposed. The position is determined via GPS. If reception is poor, the system switches to the alternative precision navigation system HalNav. This uses sky polarization, sun and moon tracking, sky tracking, Inmarsat satellite positioning and attitude sensors to determine the exact position of the Kraken3. Alternatively, an operator on land or at sea steers the boat remotely. The Kraken3 is equipped with up to four camera systems to provide feedback from the surroundings. These can also be long-range optical systems. Communication takes place via 2.4 GHz bands, mobile radio, shortwave or Starlink.
Several of the drone boats can work together in a network, deploy drones and engage generic targets together. Overall, the system makes it possible to enter dangerous areas without having to put soldiers at risk.
The Kraken3 is powered by a diesel engine. However, Kraken remains tight-lipped about the technical details of the propulsion system. The boat should be able to cover up to 650 nautical miles (approx. 1204 km) when the 600 payload is fully utilized. The top speed is a maximum of 55 knots (just under 102 km/h) and 35 knots (just under 65 km/h) in normal operation.
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Kraken relies on hydrofoil technology to achieve this range and speed. Underwater wings give the boat so much buoyancy above a certain speed that the hull lifts out of the water and the boat glides along with less resistance on the wings.
(olb)
