Washington (EFE).- The United States is working with its partners in the Persian Gulf to create a fleet of unmanned ships and intends to have a hundred of these vessels patrolling the area by the end of this year, Defense officials reported on Monday. americans.
Vice Admiral Brad Cooper, commander of the Naval Forces at US Central Command (Centcom) and 5th Fleet, based in Bahrain, said on a call with reporters that there is “an incredible opportunity” to strengthen maritime collaboration in the region with the integration of these autonomous platforms and sensors.
For example, “if you are a country in the region, today you can only see 20 miles beyond the coast (about 32.2 kilometers) with the sensors and ships you currently have, but imagine what can be achieved by placing platforms unmanned with additional radars and optics. These platforms are controlled by satellite,” said the vice admiral.
In that sense, Cooper explained that this could increase the vision capacity to 40 miles (64.3 kilometers) and if a second platform were placed up to 60 miles (96.5 kilometers) beyond the coast.
Cooper made these statements after the start this Monday of the meetings of the Working Group between the US and the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC), made up of Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, Oman, Bahrain, Qatar and Kuwait.
Meetings to reach agreements on the Persian Gulf
Between this Monday and Thursday, US officials hold meetings with their interlocutors in the region in Riyadh on issues such as the integration of air and missile defense, maritime security, Iran and the fight against terrorism.
After participating this Monday in meetings on the first two issues, the US Deputy Assistant Secretary of Defense for the Middle East, Dana Stroul, stated that both for her country and for her allies it is clear that “today’s threats and those of tomorrow do not respect the borders ».
For this reason, with these meetings they seek to update and improve their collaboration to deal with the proliferation of drones by Iran in the region, the illegal maritime trafficking of arms and narcotics, cyberattacks or access to “lethal equipment” and training in the use of weapons by non-State actors.
Stroul added that they have also discussed the “illegal” shipment of weapons by Iran to Russia, while stressing that this arms transfer has not affected the shipment of equipment to the Houthis in Yemen, Tehran’s allies.
The US has also discussed with its allies how to advance the integration of air and missile defense systems.
In this regard, Maj. Gen. Clark Quinn, deputy vice commander of the Air Force at Centcom, said on the same call that it is slowly phasing out and that they are now focused on getting the partners to share their “air vision » with other interlocutors and eventually with the US.
Integration of Israel, an issue to be discussed
Regarding a possible adhesion of Israel to this shared defense system, Stroul assured that it is “in the interest of stability and security” that the rest of the countries agree to sit down with this country to progress on this matter.
“Although we understand that each government is going to move at its own pace,” remarked the defense officials.
At sea, Cooper indicated that this cooperation has resulted in the seizure in the last two months of more than 5,000 weapons, 1.6 million ammunition and 2,000 kilograms of the propellant used to make rocket-propelled grenades (RPGs), as well as drugs. valued at $60 million.
Cooper noted that since 2021 the US and its collaborators have seized $1 billion in narcotics and nearly 15,000 weapons bound for Yemen.