The US Navy, obviously a little bit jealous of the US Air Force's autonomous aerial drones, has unveiled its new autonomous swarmboats. Swarmboats -- that's what the Navy is calling them, not me! -- are smaller, artificially intelligent boats that protect the Navy's larger ships by swarming enemy vessels and interdicting them before they can get close. The development of the swarmboats is most likely a direct response to the suicide bombing of USS Cole, where in October 2000 a small boat filled with explosives simply puttered up to the ship and killed 17 sailors.