Counter-drug sea drones utilized by Navy as Trump ramps up military resources at the border

Unmanned oversea drones are connected the prowl to interdict cause smugglers successful America's waters arsenic portion of a new Navy operation.  

The cognition volition trial the Navy’s usage of maritime drones, successful its aboriginal stages, and use lessons learned to missions each crossed the globe. 

Dubbed Operation Southern Spear, the Navy’s 4th Fleet volition use "a heterogeneous premix of Robotic and Autonomous Systems (RAS) to enactment the detection and monitoring of illicit trafficking portion learning lessons for different theaters," a quality merchandise said connected Monday. 

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As President Donald Trump shuts down the U.S. confederate and bluish borders, smugglers are expected to look for alternate routes to transportation retired their amerciable trafficking business. Human and cause trafficking cartels person progressively turned to the nation’s maritime borders to smuggle weapons, narcotics and radical into the country.  

According to caller data, much illicit drugs were seized astatine oversea by Customs and Border Patrol’s Air and Marine Operation (AMO) successful 2023 – 304,000 pounds – than by onshore – 241,000 pounds. 

Southern Spear volition run arsenic portion of Joint Task Force South – a Defense Department task unit made up of Navy, Coast Guard and Customs and Border Protection, arsenic good arsenic 20 spouse countries focused connected counter-narcotics and maritime information successful the Carribean, Central and South America. 

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Included successful the cognition are 20 high-endurance Saildrone Voyager unmanned aboveground vehicles, equipped with a recently upgraded sensor suite, according to the property release. The vehicles are 10 meters agelong and tin surveil thousands of quadrate miles of h2o per time to look for smugglers. 

The drones person already sailed the Persian Gulf nether the Navy’s Hybrid Fleet Campaign and Project 33 and arsenic portion of Operation Windward Stack, operated by the 4th Fleet passim 2024. They connection a 95% detection complaint and are contractor owned and operated. This means that SailDrone operates the surveillance level portion the Defense Department purchases the data. 

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"As onshore borders go much secure, traffickers volition exploit maritime pathways much than ever. We're honored to serve, providing autonomous around-the-clock maritime surveillance to assistance halt smugglers earlier they scope our shores," said Tom Alexander, Saildrone VP of authorities relations. 

Already, astir 90% of cocaine is trafficked astatine sea, according to the International Chamber of Shipping (ICS). Cartels look to exploit gaps successful surveillance sum that the caller ngo volition look to plug with maritime drones.  

Utilizing U.S. subject mightiness to disrupt the travel of quality and cause trafficking astatine the confederate borderline has been a apical precedence for Trump. 

Upon taking office, the president instantly sent an further 1,500 troops and further assets to the border. Over the weekend, the U.S. secured an statement with Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum, who will nonstop 10,000 Mexican troops to the U.S.-Mexico borderline successful speech for a one-month hold successful Trump’s menace of 25% tariffs connected goods flowing successful from Mexico.