Naval exercise integrates AI and unmanned technology
NewsFebruary 21, 2023
MANAMA, Bahrain. U.S. Naval Forces Central Command (NAVCENT) and naval personnel from the United Arab Emirates (UAE) concluded a weeklong unmanned systems and artificial intelligence (AI) integration exercise in the Arabian Gulf.
According to the report from the U.S. Navy, five unmanned surface vessels (USVs) from NAVCENT’s Task Force 59 and UAE's navy operated off the coast of the UAE, during which USV-mounted cameras and sensors captured imagery and video of vessels sailing nearby, which was then transmitted to operational centers ashore where AI platforms helped to detect, identify, and classify the information.
Lt. Jay Faylo, Task Force 59’s lead exercise planner, said that the exercise enabled the partners to further train their AI platforms to sort through new data sets, an act that will ultimately enhance detection capabilities. The Navy reports that some of the USVs used in the exercise were an L3 Harris Arabian Fox MAST-13, Ocean Aero Triton, and two Saildrone Explorers.
NAVCENT established Task Force 59 in September 2021 to integrate new unmanned systems and AI capabilities into U.S. naval operations across the Middle East; this most recent outing was the unit’s first bilateral exercise with the UAE.
