The ‘Sea Wasp’ will be a potent threat to terrorists and their underwater bombs
(FOX)- The sea wasp, a kind of jellyfish, can kill people in as little as three minutes by wrapping them in ten-foot-long tentacles and inflicting stings all over the body, injecting them with a potent and extremely painful venom.
Saab has developed technology named after this terrifying creature— in the form of a robot that will be able to discover and tackle bombs hidden underwater off U.S. shores and near American vessels.
To test its Sea Wasp technology, Saab has partnered with the Combating Terrorism Technical Support Office. The U.S. Navy Explosive Ordnance Divers Group 2, the FBI Counter-IED Section, and the South Carolina Law Enforcement Division’s Counter-Terrorist Operations Maritime Response Unit will all be testing the Sea Wasp over the next 10 to 12 months.
The threat of improvised explosive devices underwater continues to grow. This is a threat not just to U.S. Navy vessels, but also to commercial and civilian ships.
There has been plenty of media coverage about IEDS (improvised explosive devices) used by terrorists and other adversaries on land, but they are also frequently used at sea. Just as there are minefields on land, so are their minefields in the seas, both underwater and on the surface.
By locating and defeating bombs hidden underwater, the Sea Wasp can increase safety for military, commercial and civilian vessels.