SeaTrain is not a new idea, but certainly viable. We actually built one last decade for another agency and it works well. There are other great ideas floating around (no pun intended) that DARPA simply takes a long time to act on, but I suppose there's only so many hours in the day and money in the coffers.
If you're interested in this, I recommend you also check out the NOMARS opportunity (1), the solicitations for which are only offset by approximately 1-month.
It's an interesting time for ocean going vessels. In my opinion, ship autonomy is ushering the biggest advancement in marine engineering since the advent of cargo containerization (and before that the switch from sail to propellers). Not the autonomy itself, per se, rather it's what autonomy allows in terms of new flexibility of hull form, power and propulsion design.
If you're interested in this, I recommend you also check out the NOMARS opportunity (1), the solicitations for which are only offset by approximately 1-month.
It's an interesting time for ocean going vessels. In my opinion, ship autonomy is ushering the biggest advancement in marine engineering since the advent of cargo containerization (and before that the switch from sail to propellers). Not the autonomy itself, per se, rather it's what autonomy allows in terms of new flexibility of hull form, power and propulsion design.
1. https://beta.sam.gov/opp/dc4233cf116e4852ba4c7b436db95ae2/vi...