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Reuters, DUBAI, United Arab Emirates
The US Navy and security partners are to patrol Middle East waters with 100 uncrewed vessels next year to improve deterrence against attacks, like those presented by Iran, the US Fifth Fleet commander said on Monday.
The region is vital for global trade, especially oil supplies that flow out of the Persian Gulf via the Strait of Hormuz.
There have been high-seas confrontations between US and Iranian forces with attacks on oil tankers in Persian Gulf waters in 2019. Sanctions-hit Iran denied accusations of responsibility.
Last year, the US Navy established a new task force to integrate drone systems and artificial intelligence (AI) into the maritime operations of its Bahrain-stationed Fifth Fleet.
“We are at the cusp of an unmanned technological revolution,” US Navy Vice Admiral Brad Cooper told a defense exhibition in Abu Dhabi, where he unveiled proposed plans for the joint fleet.
“By the summer of next year, 100 advanced unmanned surface vessels would be patrolling the waters around this region,” he added.
Cooper said that the US would join with Middle East allies whose forces have uncrewed vessel capabilities to operate much of the new fleet — boosting deterrence and threat detection, and better securing critical waterways.
Israel and the United Arab Emirates (UAE), which established diplomatic ties in 2020 and work closely with Washington on regional security, have developed indigenous uncrewed assets.
“No navy acting alone can protect against all the threats here in this region. The region is simply too big. We must address this in a coordinated multinational way,” Cooper said.
Yemen’s Iran-aligned Houthi movement, which is fighting a Saudi Arabian-led military coalition, and has carried out mostly failed drone and missile strikes on the UAE, has also targeted vessels off the Yemeni coast.
“It’s well established that Iran is the principal security threat in the region,” Cooper said.
The Fifth Fleet has used uncrewed vessels in exercises since November, racking up thousands of operating hours, he said.
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