Pentagon plans to add up to 50 autonomous surveillance boats on Rio Grande and Gulf
The U.S. Department of Defense is studying an expansion of its fleet of autonomous surface vessels built by San Diego startup Seasats to patrol the Rio Grande and the Gulf of Mexico, aiming to increase the number of boats from the current test group of ten by as many as fifty.1
Officials say the unmanned boats, known as Lightfish drones, have already logged 452 detections, 350 apprehensions and 100 turnbacks per month and are intended to relieve the strain on Coast Guard cutters and crewed aircraft that monitor the U.S.-Mexico border.1