On July 11, UTEK presented to the Ministry of Defense its new USV system named “Kunai”, the Japanese multifunction tool that was also used as a weapon by ninja warriors.
This new USV concept is included in the SIMBAAD project (Integrated Monitoring and Search System for Water Threats for Defense) financed by the COINCIDENTE Program of the Ministry of Defense in which, in addition to UTEK, the Universitat Jaume I, the Universitat de the Balearic Islands and the Narwhal Boats shipyard.
The Kunai has been developed as a multipurpose USV for all types of operations, from security and defense or SAR operations, to searching for underwater threats. The boat, on its bow deck, allows mounting a weapon or another type of system such as a fire monitor, while on the stern it allows the installation of multipurpose systems, such as a LARS, such as the one that has been developed for the SIMBAAD project and allows a fully autonomous and remote operation of a UUV, with the ship acting as a communications relay between the UUV and the GCS.
Like the previous systems, the Kunai has the OPV (Optionally Piloted Vehicle) option, allowing control with an on-board skipper, giving it even more versatility.
The system is complemented by a totally portable control station, deployable in a few minutes, either for operations from land or from another vessel.