Ja, US Marines har flyttbare NSM batterier. Norge har ikke noe kystforsvar. (Red.)
How the Marine Corps is testing a
‘narco-boat’ for resupply efforts
By Diana Stancy
Sep 4, 2024,
08:18 PM
An autonomous low-profile
vessel stands by at the Del Mar Boat Basin as part of Project Convergence
Capstone Four on Feb. 23, 2024, at Camp Pendleton, California. (Kevin Ray J.
Salvador/U.S. Marine Corps)
The U.S. Marine Corps is testing out an autonomous system inspired by a
“narco-boat” to bolster resupply efforts, as the service focuses on island
hopping and projecting power from land to sea, according to the head of the
Marine Corps Warfighting Laboratory.
In addition to delivering
two Naval Strike Missiles for the Corps’ anti-ship missile system, the autonomous low-profile vessel the Marine Corps is
experimenting with also aims to better get critical supplies like food to
forward deployed and distributed Marines, Marine Corps Brig. Gen. Simon Doran
said at the Defense News Conference on Wednesday.
“Truth be told, this is
just a narco-boat,” Doran said. “We stole the idea from friends down south. And
so this is 55 feet long, completely autonomous. It’s able to go hundreds or
thousands of miles. It’s able to carry weapon systems that we have that are
new. … It can carry pretty much anything you want to put in it.”
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Inspired by narco-boats,
which are used by traffickers to smuggle illicit substances across bodies of
water, the unmanned vessel remains close to the water-surface level to cut down
on the likelihood of detection as it assists with logistics capabilities.
The service tested the
logistics supply drone at the Army’s Project Convergence Capstone in February
at Camp Pendleton, California, where the Marine Corps trained a cook in 21 days
to operate the system off the islands of Japan.
The Army spearheads the
Project Convergence to test out advanced technology and capabilities in modern
warfare as part of a joint, multinational exercise.
The autonomous low-profile
vessel is particularly important because it allows forces to resupply food,
fuel and ammunition without jeopardizing the safety of Marines, Doran said.
“If you have that unit
located inside a weapons engagement zone, contested logistics and the ability
to maneuver in the littorals becomes key,” Doran said. “And for that, what
we’re looking at is trying to acquire systems that we deem risk worthy, meaning
that we don’t necessarily want to just waste them, but we’d rather put
something in there that’s autonomous, that doesn’t have humans on it that can
do some of these higher risk missions without having personnel put in that
riskier situation.”
This system is something
the Marine Corps wanted “yesterday,” but testing is ongoing, Doran said. The
Marine Corps Warfighting Laboratory received two prototypes in 2023.
The vessel is expected to
join the III Marine Expeditionary Force based in Okinawa, Japan, for further
evaluation this fall, he said.
The service hopes to
purchase the vessels in the next several years, Marine Corps leaders said at
the 2023 Defense News Conference.
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