Unmanned Vessels: High-Tech Powered, Low-Tech Limits
In a strategic move aimed at bolstering maritime surveillance capabilities, the U.S. Navy is intensifying its deployment of unmanned surface vessels throughout Central and South America, marking a pivotal step in the evolution of naval operations.
“We're just in the early stages of deploying unmanned vessels in throughout Central and South America,” said Carlos Del Toro, secretary of the Navy.
Unmanned surface vehicle use in the Americas follows work in other areas.
The U.S. Navy has employed surface drones to gain domain space awareness in the Middle East. Task Force 59 was established in September 2021 and is based in Bahrain. Since then, it has accumulated data and operational experience with these devices. Other services have employed these tools for their specific missions and the devices have been introduced for surveillance in the area of responsibility of Southern Command.