Washington:A US Navy drone boat, which was used to rescue the pilot and co-pilot of an Apache helicopter that was shot down by Iranian forces near the Strait of Hormuz, was developed by a Texas-based company co-founded by Indian-American Vibhav Altekar.

The rescue mission was a first of its kind, where the US military used an autonomous surface vessel, remotely piloted by a human operator, to recover personnel at sea.

The US Armed Forces have been using the drone boat Corsair, developed by Saronic Technologies, for quite some time.

The 24-foot-long Corsair runs on diesel fuel and can travel at speeds of up to 35 knots and has a range of more than 1,000 nautical miles. It is reportedly powered by artificial intelligence (AI) and can carry a load of up to 1,000 pounds.

The boat is part of the US Navy's Task Force 59 -- which oversees uncrewed vessels and other drones powered by AI -- under the Pentagon's push to expand unmanned vehicles alongside traditional assets. 

As per the LinkedIn profile of Saronic Technologies, it has a USD 392 million production contract with the US Navy for autonomous surface vessels.

Headquartered in Austin, Texas, the company was founded in September 2022 by Dino Mavrookas, who was a member of the Navy SEALs for 11 years, and three others, including Altekar. The other co-founders are Doug Lambert and Rob Lehman.

Source:Ndtv