Pentagon: The United States deployed drone speedboats without crews to patrol as part of its operations against Iran. This is the first time Washington confirmed the use of such vessels in a conflict. It was not previously known that the drone speedboats, which are capable of being used for kamikaze attacks or surveillance, were deployed. The news comes despite the U.S. Navy’s long-term effort to build a fleet unmanned surface vessels. In recent years, uncrewed vessels gained prominence after Ukraine used explosive-laden speedboats inflicting significant damage to Russia's Black Sea Fleet. Iran has at least two times used sea drones in the Gulf to attack oil tanks since the U.S., Israel and other countries began their strikes. The U.S. did not use unmanned vessels to conduct offensive strikes.

Tim Hawkins, Pentagon spokesperson for Central Command said that unmanned vessels, built by Maryland-based BlackSea and known as Global Autonomous Reconnaissance Craft (GARC), had been used to patrol as part of the U.S. anti-Iran campaign, called "Operation Epic Fury."

"U.S. "U.S. This platform has logged more than 2,200 miles and 450 hours of underway time during maritime patrols to support Operation Epic Fury," Hawkins stated in a press release.

Hawkins refused to identify any other unmanned systems deployed. BlackSea declined to comment on this story.

NAVY STRUGGLING WITH DRONE BOT

Since years, the U.S. is trying to build an autonomous fleet of surface and undersea vessels that are unmanned, to provide a "cheaper, faster, and more efficient alternative to manned submarines and ships, especially to counter China's increasing naval power in the Pacific. The project, however, is behind schedule, plagued by technical issues, cost concerns, and a number of testing setbacks. The GARC speedboat, which is a five-meter-long angular boat, has been involved in numerous performance and safety issues.

According to a source briefed about the issue, a GARC boat was rendered inoperable during a failed test conducted in the Middle East in recent weeks.

Hawkins declined to comment on testing failures.

He said that the GARC was an emerging capability, and part of a fleet operated by U.S. 5th Fleet surface drones to increase awareness of what is happening in regional water. (Reporting and editing by Joe Brock, Deepa Babington, and David Jeans)

(source: Reuters)