Australia will use robot boats to find asylum seekers at sea

By David Hambling

Ocius Expertise

Australia is deploying a snappy of uncrewed robot boats to patrol its waters and display screen climate and natural world. They’ll furthermore flag boats doubtlessly transporting asylum seekers, a idea that has eager human rights teams.

The 5-metre-long vessels, identified as Bluebottles after an Australian jellyfish, leer admire runt sailing yachts. They use a mixture of wind, wave and film voltaic power to reduction a trusty 5-knot drag in all instances.

Sydney-based mostly Ocius Expertise delivered the prototype in 2017 and Australia’s Ministry of Defence has now awarded an AU$5.5 million (£3m) …