From Ukraine to the Red Sea, sea drones are emerging as a new weapon that can change the future of naval warfare.
This has created a sense of urgency for the US to move faster towards developing its fleet of unmanned vessels that could be crucial in countering China’s growing naval power in the Asia-Pacific region.
What are Sea Drones?
Sea drones are small unmanned vessels that operate on or below water surface. They are called drone boats, drone ships, or uncrewed surface vessels (USVs). It is not clear how much they cost, but a drone publicized by the Ukrainian government has a price tag of $250,000. According to BBC, this is cheaper than many types of long-range missiles.
Sea drones can handle a variety of tasks, including environmental monitoring. They are also used for military purposes, such as clearing mines, carrying out surveillance or detonating near targets. They can be deployed quickly, and they don’t need a fully-trained crew.
Military sea drones can be missile-armed speed boats, mine-hunting miniature submarines, or solar-powered sailboats equipped with high-definition spy cameras, and underwater sensors, according to Reuters.
New Weapon
Sea drones have emerged as an effective weapon against the Russian fleet in the Black Sea. Ukraine has used remote-controlled speed boats loaded with explosives to sink Russian frigates and minesweepers since late 2022.
In recent months, the Houthi rebels have deployed unmanned vessels against commercial shipping in the Red Sea, although they haven’t achieved much success.
An Emerging Challenge
The Pentagon spokesman Eric Pahon told Reuters that the increased use of sea drones has caught the attention of the Pentagon, which is working to incorporate this emerging weapon into its plans to counter the threat of China’s rising naval power in the Pacific.
Recognizing the new challenge, Deputy Secretary of Defense Kathleen Hicks announced in August an initiative called “Replicator”. It aims to deploy hundreds of small and relatively cheap air and sea drones with 18 to 24 months to the growing military threat posed by China.
However, the US Navy has been hesitant to build a fleet of sea drones despite warnings that they would shape the future of naval warfare.
Financial Hurdles
The biggest obstacle to US plans has been the Department of Defense (DoD) budget process that gives priority to big ships and submarines built by big defense companies, Reuters cited two Navy sources and three executives at sea drone manufacturers.
Philipp Stratmann, CEO at Ocean Power Technologies, a New Jersey-based firm that supplies the US Navy with the autonomous surface drone WAM-V, said that at some point, “you hit the fact that there is a military industrial complex that has the best lobbyists and knows exactly how the money flows and contracting works in the DoD.”
A Navy spokesperson said that the Navy budget this year for small and medium-sized underwater sea drones is $172mn, and it would fall to $101.8mn in 2025. This represents a tiny fraction of the Navy procurement budget of $63bn proposed by President Joe Biden’s administration for 2025.
Lack of Expertise
The two Navy sources told Reuters that when the Navy tried to deploy sea drones on reconnaissance missions, it lacked the expertise to use them. They said that there weren’t enough sailors trained to operate drones or to analyze data sent from the unmanned vessels’ cameras and sensors.
The Navy spokesperson said that they are working to improve data collection and analysis from sensors.
Pahon, the Pentagon spokesman, said the DoD has been “laser-focused on accelerating innovation over the last three years,” including the use of sea drones. He added that the Pentagon was using innovative ways to address the budget challenges.
Pahon cited the Replicator program, which aims to match China’s growing air and naval power in the Asia-Pacific region, as an example. The $500 million-a-year project is set to cut through bureaucracy and fast track the deployment of thousands of cheap aerial and sea drones.
Countering Threats
According to Navy and defense contractor sources, drones, with a cost estimated between $1mn and $3mn apiece, provide a relatively cheap and fast way to expand the Navy’s fleet. This comes at a time when large shipbuilding projects are lagging behind schedule.
The US is testing the use of unmanned vessels in active combat scenarios, but their immediate use would be for missions that are too costly and numerous for manned naval fleets. These missions include maritime surveillance, mine-hunting, and protecting critical undersea infrastructure.
Bryan Clark, an advisor to the Navy on autonomous craft and a senior fellow at the Hudson Institute, said that small sea drones could act as a shield for valuable crewed assets like aircraft carriers and submarines, and trap ships carrying troops if China tries to invade Taiwan.
According to Clark’s estimates, the US Navy has about 100 small surface drones and another 100 underwater drones, while China has a similar-sized force that is rapidly growing. He said: “Ukraine has shown how effective they can be and how they can be employed in current operations.”
The US 5th fleet, led by its Task Force 59 unit, has been testing sea drones for three years. The project has deployed surveillance drones from private firms, including startups and defense giants.
Colin Corridan, commander of the task force, told Reuters: “The situation in the Red Sea gives the work of Task Force 59 added urgency and we look forward to fielding solutions to help counter Houthi malign behavior.”
