SEOUL, April 15 (AJU PRESS) - HD Hyundai Heavy Industries, the world's largest shipbuilder, has forged a partnership with Palantir Technologies, a U.S. artificial intelligence technology company, to jointly develop military unmanned surface vehicles (USVs).
The South Korean company said Sunday the two companies have recently signed a memorandum of understanding in Washington to build reconnaissance USVs by 2026 and further cooperate to develop combat USVs in the future.
The project involves HD Hyundai integrating an autonomous navigation software developed by its subsidiary Avikus into Palantir's Mission Autonomy platform for autonomous decision-making models based on real-time sensor data including video, images, radar, and acoustic. HD Hyundai will also develop the hull and components of the USVs.
The shipbuilder said it aims to develop USV models differentiated from conventional unmanned ships that showed poor performance compared to manned vessels. Current USVs are virtually inoperable in high waves and other adverse conditions due to sensor malfunctions.
"Based on our two companies' achievements and credibility, we will venture into the global unmanned vessel market, which is a new blue ocean market influenced by cutting-edge technologies," HD Hyundai Vice President Joo Won-ho said in a press release.
USVs are autonomous vessels capable of various tasks such as navigating through designated waypoints and search and rescue missions.
With the rapid development of AI and sensor technologies, many global shipbuilders have joined the competition in the market for commercial USVs during the last decade.
The global market for autonomous vessels, valued at $8.8 billion in 2022, is predicted to grow at an average annual rate of 13.6 percent to reach about 28 billion by 2031, according to market researcher Skyquest.
