Despite investing $700million, a Navy mine-hunting drone is being criticized by officials as it cannot consistently detect dangerous explosives.
The drone made by Lockheed Martin has failed in tests 24 times since September 2014, according to information given to the Defense Department’s Office of Operational Test & Evaluation.
The Navy had planned to spend $864million on 54 of the Remote Minehunting System drones, but will now review the program next month because of the problems.
‘The Navy has determined that the RMS’ total number of failures and periodicity of failures fall short of the design requirement for the system,’ Navy spokesman Captain Thurraya Kent told CNN.
Mine-detecting drone are designed to work with the Navy’s littoral combat ship class, which operates in shallow waters,
The Navy is paying $23billion to build 32 littoral combat ships such as the recently commissioned the USS Milwaukee.
However, the underwater-mine detecting program is thought to be essential for the ships to maneuver close to shore, with the drones theoretically using sonar to detect the explosives devices.
The Department of Defense bought eight drones in 2005 for $109million, according to Bloomberg, and a potential $400million would be given to Lockheed for 18 more drones if a February order is approved.
The mine-hunting program was originally supposed to take eight years to develop, but has instead reached 17 years.
Read More: U.S. Navy’s $700 million mine-hunting drone can’t find explosives
