WASHINGTON — A Pentagon research agency known for its connections to Silicon Valley is asking industry for non-kinetic technologies capable of helping federal authorities disable small, high-speed watercraft encroaching into American waters.
“The use of small watercraft by our nation’s adversaries, including transnational criminal organizations (TCOs) and state actors, to smuggle illicit cargo and aliens across the U.S.’s maritime borders presents a growing security challenge,” according to a solicitation published by the Defense Innovation Unit today.
As such, the “Department of Homeland Security (DHS) and the Department of War (DoW) are seeking solutions capable of reliably stopping non-compliant small watercraft without placing undue risk to the DHS/DoW personnel conducting these interdictions, operators/passengers onboard the non-compliant vessel (NCV), and nearby innocent civilians on the water.”
The solution must be operable from a small Coast Guard boat while underway and be mature enough such that the government can begin testing within 60 days.
“This [solution] could be, but is not limited to, localized, non-kinetic energy (e.g., electromagnetic radiation), a novel Electronic Attack (EA) method, or other novel means,” the notice continued. Responses are due by September 30.
The solicitation comes just a day after President Donald Trump announced the US military had taken out a boat that the president alleged was shipping drugs to the US, killing three people onboard. It was the second — or potentially third — instance of the US government using deadly force against suspected drug runners at sea in recent weeks. Critics, including some lawmakers, said the administration has yet to show conclusive evidence to substantiate their claims about the boats.
More broadly the Trump administration has aggressively tasked numerous federal agencies, to include the Navy, with monitoring the United States’s southern border and the surrounding territorial waters.
Constantly evolving aerial threats demand training that adapts accordingly
With potential adversaries no longer predictable, training must move beyond just live exercises and flight simulators.
Earlier this year, the Pentagon dispatched a Navy destroyer to assist Coast Guard units in their maritime interdiction efforts — an effort senior Navy officials acknowledged was unusual.
“This is putting our toe in the water a bit to understand it, to make sure that we know how to employ this force. Is the return on investment for this level of capability going to return good, fruitful utilization of it?” Adm. Daryl Caudle, then-US Fleet Forces Commander, and now the chief of naval operations said in March.