This program, which dates only a year ago, already deploys several types of marine surface drones or USVs in the waters around the Arabian Peninsula and in the Gulf collecting multiple data and images which are then sent for examination in centers located in the region.
The program was undamaged until the Iranian Navy attempted to seize three seven-meter-long Saildrone Explorer marine drones in two incidents on the night of August 29-30 and September 1.
During the first incident in the Gulf, an Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corps vessel was seen towing the drone, only to release it after a US patrol boat and helicopter were deployed to the scene.
In the second, an Iranian destroyer seized two Saildrones in the Red Sea, towing them aboard.
It took the presence of two US warships and helicopters to persuade the Iranians to surrender them the next day not without first stripping them of their cameras, according to the US military.
The Iranians maintain that these USVs sailed on international maritime routes and that it was a question of “preventing possible accidents”, a version rejected by the American Navy.
Iran’s actions were “unwarranted, and inconsistent with the behavior of a professional maritime force,” US Vice Admiral Brad Cooper, commander of US naval forces at Central Command, said in a statement.
– A year at sea –
These marine drones equipped with sensors, radars and cameras, are operated by Task Force 59 of the 5th Fleet based in Bahrain, created last year to develop surveillance capabilities in this area using drones and intelligence. artificial.
Aerial or underwater drones are commonplace, but these floating devices are newer and considered essential, 5th Fleet spokesman Tim Hawkins told AFP.
Since the start of the program, the US Navy and regional partners have deployed both slower Saildrones and Mantas T-12 speedboats.
The Saildrone Explorer has a rigid sail-shaped wing and features solar panels. It can be deployed for up to a year, operated remotely and collects a wide range of ocean, weather, navigation and strategic intelligence.
The Saildrone company, based in San Francisco, operates around a hundred of these machines around the world for the benefit of both the Pentagon and research institutes.
“After cruising around Antarctica in 2019 and passing through the eye of a Category 4 hurricane last year, there really is no marine environment where it can’t operate,” said a spokeswoman. the company, Susan Ryan.
– Monitoring Iran –
The US Navy does not clearly say what these surveillance drones are used for in the Gulf region, contenting itself with ensuring that they allow “increased vigilance in these waters (…) and to strengthen our deterrence posture in the region,” Hawkins said.
But the activities of Iran, which also patrols the area, are likely a prime target.
Tehran has in recent years already docked, seized foreign ships and harassed the US Navy in multiple tense confrontations.
Washington is monitoring the delivery of weapons by Iran to its Houthi allies in Yemen.
For Officer Hawkins, the key is to retrieve all kinds of data from land, air and sea and quickly analyze it using artificial intelligence, which is able to spot unusual activity that human observation might miss.
The 5th Fleet spokesman wonders, however, why Iran is suddenly interested in its drones and trying to seize them.
Nothing the United States does is secret, he said.
The marine drone program was announced in September last year, and in February the 5th Fleet organized maneuvers involving a dozen countries and 85 of these floating devices.
Still, the choice of the crucial Gulf region is probably not insignificant and these activities irritate Iran.
