The US Navy has announced the creation of a new task force that will find possible ways for the service to apply unmanned and artificial intelligence (AI) technologies in the Middle East.
According to task force commodore Capt. Michael Brasseur, the US 5th Fleet headquarters in Bahrain faces urgent challenges requiring technological support.
The service seeks to deploy dual-use maritime robotics to put many sensors in the water. “For us, it comes all the way down to maritime domain awareness, knowing what’s going on and then being more precise with the manned assets,” he was quoted as saying by Navy Times.
Brasseur further stated that the navy hopes to deploy and evaluate unmanned surface vessels and unmanned aerial systems for use in real missions.
Since last month, the service has been taking inventory of all unmanned systems and commercial robotics in the Middle East to identify which can be easily repurposed for complex military missions.
‘Working With Marines’
In an attempt to upgrade naval capabilities in the region, Brasseur said it is now cooperating with potential partners who are also interested in unmanned and AI technologies.
He also revealed that the task force is already working with the US Marines deployed in the area who are using unmanned aerial vehicles.
“We think we know what they’ll do with it… but never underestimate a sailor or a Marine with a problem: they’ll always find a new way to solve that problem. We’re just trying to accelerate getting the kit in the hands of the end users,” the official remarked.
In addition to high-tech military vehicles, the task force is looking for unmanned and AI tools capable of fusing data from a large number of sensors and putting the information in a form that can be easily and quickly accessed by fleet commanders.
