Members of the Five Eyes (FVEY) security partnership, Canada, the United States (U.S.), the United Kingdom (U.K.), Australia, and New Zealand (N.Z.), work together to support each other’s national and international security interests. Recent changes to the maritime security environment caused by technological advances in AI, robotics, sensors, and weaponry, as well as growing great power competition, have prompted the navies of each FVEY state to invest in maritime autonomous systems (MAS).
Autonomous systems are those that operate using artificial intelligence and do not require human crews or physical intervention. Their level of autonomy ranges from fully autonomous to remote-controlled. Autonomous vessels and vehicles can also be optionally-crewed, operating with or without a complement of sailors. The adoption of MAS, including uncrewed surface vessels (USVs) and uncrewed undersea vehicles (UUVs), will improve the capabilities of FVEY navies by reducing operator errors, risk to human life, and costs associated with naval operations while speeding up reaction times, complicating enemy targeting, and allowing navies to pivot to more distributed maritime operations.
View Full Article Here