He Pentagon could expand the use of autonomous surveillance boats in the Rio Grande and Gulf of Mexico after the canoe-sized vessels helped authorities detect and deter crosses illegal border crossings and drug trafficking during a pilot program that began in January, a U.S. official said.
These unmanned surface vessels, manufactured by the emerging company seasatsbased in San Diego, patrol the river for long periods without a crew and are part of a growing initiative by the military and authorities to use relatively inexpensive autonomous systems in surveillance and security missions.
The border mission also highlights how a new generation of venture capital-backed defense startups are poised to capture a market once dominated by traditional contractors, now that the Pentagon seeks faster and cheaper ways to deploy new technologies capable of operating 24 hours a day.
Defense officials are studying whether these vessels, which are powered by solar panels, could be deployed more widely as part of a broader initiative to monitor remote stretches of the Rio Grande. In addition to seasatscompanies like Saronic, Saildrone and Splash They offer similar marine drones.
Defense officials want to expand the robotic fleet, which currently consists of a test group of 10 vessels, to reach a maximum of 50, in order to alleviate the workload of the vessels of the Coast Guard and the manned aircraft that patrol the border with Mexico, within the framework of the president’s campaign donald trump against illegal immigration.
Maritime drones are “cost-effective solutions to intercept and deploy personnel in these areas where drug traffickers are now targeting,” he said. M. Roosevelt DitlevsonUndersecretary of Defense for National Defense and Security Affairs of the Americas.
Small drones and other unmanned platforms have become widespread in the United States Armed Forces in recent years after its repeated successes in the Ukrainian war.
Drones can operate for months
The Lightfish of seasats11 feet (3.35 meters) and 340 pounds (154.2 kilos), is a low-profile autonomous boat that costs about $240,000 and can be launched from a boat ramp or the back of a pickup truck. The drone can operate for months at a time in rough seas.
The vessels carry sensors — including electro-optical, infrared and sonar — that send real-time tracking data directly to military software networks, such as the Maven system in Palantir Technologies and the Fortress platform Anduril Industriesthus alerting the units of Customs and Border Protection and of the Coast Guard.
He Pentagon has indicated that, in a normal month, Lightfish drones have collaborated in 452 detections, 350 arrests and 100 returns, which refer to cases in which a group of people abandons their attempt to cross the border after realizing that they have been discovered.
“They see that the boat is waiting for them there and they know that, basically, they have been discovered,” he explained. Ditlevson.
The drone maker gained international attention in July when Reuters reported that a Lightfish commercial vessel operating within the Philippines’ exclusive economic zone sailed close enough to a Philippine missile destroyer. Chinese People’s Liberation Army Navy to capture detailed close-up video, demonstrating how low-cost autonomous vessels can surveil billions of dollars’ worth of military assets.
If success continues, Ditlevson He said Lightfish orders could increase by 50 vessels and they could also potentially operate in the Gulf of Mexico, forming a radar barrier between Texas and Key West. Nevertheless, Ditlevson He noted that use will expand gradually, exploring different technologies.
«We did not choose any specific supplier. “We want the best technology,” he told Reuters in an interview.
The executive director of seasats, Mike Flanigannoted that unmanned systems provide constant coverage that traditional, fuel-intensive assets cannot match.
“A plane or a ship can go very far very fast, but if you say, ‘I want to keep that Boeing 737 over an area of the ocean for a day,’ it just can’t do it,” he explained. Flanigan.
“The vessel doesn’t cover nearly as much territory as quickly, but it can stay there for months at a time, which is the key differentiating factor for these security and surveillance applications.”
As enhanced border security and targeted military operations have reduced drug smuggling routes, cartels have increasingly moved into coastal waterways and nearshore regions.
The increasingly widespread use of drones in the Gulf of Mexico is a prior step to testing the vessels in the roughest seas of the Pacific Ocean, near San Diego.
