Page 8: of Marine Technology Magazine (November 2025)
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SUBSEA DEFENSE UNMANNED SYSTEMS
HYBRID THEORY:
Multi-Domain Unmanned Systems are
Blurring Maritime Boundaries
Credit: HOVERAir
By David Strachan, Strikepod Systems [2031: Somewhere in the Luzon Strait] SEALs slip from behind the rocks to haul the vessel onto
Under cover of darkness, an elite team of Navy SEALs the beach and recover its payload of provisions and power reaches an uninhabited island and moves inland. Fifty modules before dismantling and concealing it among the km out to sea, a ? otilla of autonomous underwater and weathered landscape. Meanwhile, a ? otilla of autono- surface vehicles (AUSVs) shifts between the surface and mous low-pro? le vessels (ALPVs) is inbound from Guam, the safety of the deep, keeping a stealthy, unblinking eye loaded down with four-ton payloads comprised of modu- on enemy ? eet movements and transmitting near-real- lar autonomous air, underwater, and surface vehicles for time intelligence to USINDOPACOM and the embarked detecting, tracking, and striking enemy warships.
SEALs. From behind the beach, a small amphibious quad- copter takes to the sky, traveling ten km offshore where it This scenario may read like a passage from a specula- descends, lands on the water’s surface, and submerges, its tive techno-thriller, but these platforms and capabilities al- onboard acoustic modem broadcasting a single high-fre- ready exist, and are coming to contested waterways around quency message to an object resting quietly on the seabed the world. The lines between warfare domains are blurring - NOW. As the drone reemerges and climbs back into the as a generation of innovative hybrids enters the battlespace. sky, a prepositioned cargo trimaran rises slowly through Whether rising from the depths to take ? ight or diving below the water column, breaks the surface, and begins its wind- the surface to evade detection, these systems are poised to re- driven journey toward shore. On reaching the surf zone, de? ne maritime mission sets.
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