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These battlefield robots had their own machine guns, small hexacopter surveillance drones, and demining rollers. Other unmanned air, sea and land vehicles also featured prominently in the event. All of this would help keep the Marines out of harm’s way during the initial landing, which would be the most dangerous part of any water assault.
It is not clear to what extent HyperSub actually fits into the future plans of the Marine Corps. This is probably the reason why HSP was invited to the event in the first place. Unfortunately, in its prototype form, the craft lacks sensors, weapons, defensive gear and armor, or any other mission gear. Each of these systems would add weight and potentially bulk, degrading the overall performance of the boat above and below the water.
In many ways, HSP’s attempts to market the HyperSub as a military vessel mirror Juliet Marine Systems’ efforts to launch their Super-cavitant ghost ship. Since 2007, the company has been trying to generate interest in their design in the halls of the Pentagon. In 2014, the firm even offered a enlarged version, the size of a corvette replacing the Littoral Combat Ship (LCS).
So far, the Navy hasn’t been very keen on testing the Ghost, and Juliet has resisted more modest offers from the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency to protect its proprietary design. Still, HyperSub inventor Reynolds Marion seemed optimistic his unique craft could be of benefit to the Marines in his own interview with CBS on S2ME2 ANTX17 media day.
“I always thought it would be a good idea as a kid to be able to have a really cool speedboat that could come out and dive when you wanted to dive,†he told the network’s Carter Evans.
Ultimately, it will be up to the Marines to say whether the HSP product seems useful in a military setting. The real market for these unique ships may be that of the billionaire oligarchs who got bored with the current stable of submarines and fast boats from their mega yachts.
Contact the author: joe@thedrive.com
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