Hammerhead USVs put allies to the test

Ten targets were deployed over three realistic threat scenarios in Exercise Cobra Gold in Thailand which took place at the end of February and early March.

The fleet of Hammerhead USV-T were firstly used to replicate a beach assault force as Fast In-Shore Attack Craft with four targets, including two integrated with customer provided payloads.

The targets were launched and recovered at sea by the QTSC Field Services (FS) team with the aid of the Thai Navy whilst being remotely controlled from land by the other members of the FS team.

In the second and third scenarios all 10 targets were launched and controlled from aboard a Royal Thai Navy Vessel to simulate an explosive-laden USV-T, used to disrupt navies and global shipping.

All ten Hammerheads were controlled and deployed by the FS team to meet the customers’ requirements, representing different forms of threat from single target engagement to swarm attacks.

In the scenarios, allies from the Royal Thai Navy, United States Navy, US Army, Republic of Korea Navy, and Republic of Singapore Navy took part to engage and neutralise the Hammerheads from both surface and aerial engagements.

Ryan Peterson, Customer Account Manager at QTSC, said: “The Hammerhead is a unique capability allowing our partners to train against realistic threats that they are facing around the world today.

“Deploying to Exercise Cobra Gold, a multinational exercise, means we can deliver frontline expertise and shape training standards at a time when the threat landscape continues to evolve at pace.”