Royal Navy test fires AI-based torpedo launcher

The British Navy has test fired a torpedo from its Artful Astute Class submarine, using a new AI "brain," the Common Combat System, that interpreted sonar readings and attacked a moving target with a practice weapon. Developed by BAE, along with WMware, Dell and Aish, the new system processes information from powerful submarine sensors, detecting ships more than 3k nautical miles away, to track stealth enemy vessels and help crew make important command decisions.

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The British Navy has fired its first torpedo using a radical new 'brain' fitted to a nuclear submarine.

The Royal Navy's latest and most advanced Astute class submarine, Artful, used the Common Combat System for the first time.

It acts as the submarine's 'brain' – controlling its 'eyes', 'ears' and 'nervous system'.

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The Artful Astute Class submarine exiting docks prior to the test. It is the first to use this new technology which is now being retrofitted to earlier Astute class submarines.

HOW IT WORKS The Common Combat System acts as the submarine's 'brain' – controlling its 'eyes', 'ears' and 'nervous system'. The new system, provided by VMware, Dell and Aish, processes information from submarine sensors to enable crew members to make important command decisions. It was used during the test to interpret sonar readings and then attack a moving target with a practice weapon.

Artful, the third in the Astute class family, is the first to use this new technology which is now being retrofitted to earlier Astute class submarines.

Work will soon begin to also retrofit Vanguard class submarines.

Paul Beavis, Combat Systems & Support Director for BAE Systems Submarines, said:

'We worked with partners to design an innovative solution that adapts commercial off-the-shelf products to provide the Royal Navy with a step-change in technology - ensuring greater security and resilience at a significantly reduced cost.

'The new command and control system was integrated ahead of schedule so it was ready for the third submarine, rather than the fourth.

It is proving itself to be highly capable and will be rolled out across the rest of the fleet – equipping the Royal Navy with the best, most advanced technology available.'

The new system, provided by VMware, Dell and Aish, processes information from submarine sensors to enable crew members to make important command decisions.

It was used during Artful's torpedo test to interpret sonar readings and then attack a moving target with a practice weapon.

Artful is the latest to be handed over to the Royal Navy, joining her sister submarines, HMS Astute and HMS Ambush.

Astute can hunt down submarines and ships, but it is also designed to lurk concealed off coasts for covert surveillance and intelligence-gathering.

The four remaining submarines are at various stages of construction at our site in Barrow-in-Furness, Cumbria.

Astute can hunt down submarines and ships, but it is also designed to lurk concealed off coasts for covert surveillance and intelligence-gathering.

The traditional periscope has gone, to be replaced by a digital optical mast that can record 360 degrees with a zoom and produce infra-red and thermal imaging.

The video can then be sent on to the rest of the fleet.

Another mast is powerful enough to listen in on mobile-phone conversations far inshore.The Royal Navy and BAE Systems (which is building the vessel) are reticent on the subject, but can also carry special forces to deploy from the submarine on secret operations using underwater sledges.

Astute can move in quietly, act, then leave, and no one will know she's even been there.

The 97m long, 7,400 tonne nuclear-powered attack submarine has cost taxpayers more than £1billion but, along with its sisters, sets a new standard in weapons load and stealth.

Astute class submarine Artful, designed and built by BAE Systems for the Royal Navy, as it rolls out of the Devonshire Dock Hall in Barrow-in-Furness, Cumbria. It was later famously grounded (right) after it hit rocks off the Isle of Skye

Armed with both Spearfish heavy torpedoes and Tomahawk cruise missiles, Artful's design marks a shift away from a Cold War focus on anti-submarine warfare to a concept of 'Maritime Contributions to Joint Operations'.

The Tomahawk cruise missiles she will carry are claimed to have an accuracy of just a few metres over a range of within 1,240 miles, giving Artful the ability to support ground forces anywhere in the world.

More than 39,000 acoustic tiles mask the vessel's sonar signature, meaning she slips through the seas with less noise than a baby dolphin.