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Sept. 4 (UPI) -- The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration has launched five small, uncrewed research vessels off the U.S. Virgin Islands to better understand how hurricanes develop and behave.

"The deployment is the latest effort by NOAA to advance data collection to improve hurricane research and forecasting, " NOAA said in a statement Wednesday.

NOAA is partnering with the University of Southern Mississippi and the robotics company Oshen in the research effort.

The group is planning to launch additional robotic vessels, known as C-Stars, this fall ahead of any hurricanes that may develop.

Researchers say if vessels prove reliable, they could be an important part of the effort to understand and observe hurricanes in the future.

"Understanding weat

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