Ongoing autonomous efforts were not without setbacks as a $5 billion investment sought to fulfill U.S. Navy capabilities at crafting an “unmanned hellscape” ahead of a potential conflict.
Amid the rapid advancement of artificial intelligence, President Donald Trump’s administration has made abundantly clear that it is seeking to pursue every avenue to leverage the technology to America’s advantage. As another round of training exercises were underway off the coast of California, one report made note of some of the issues that had cropped up to that end as all eyes were on China’s plans for Taiwan.
In a report from the Daily Mail, setbacks in the autonomous programs had included a robot vessel causing a towboat to capsize when it unexpectedly turned on near Naval Base Ventura County weeks prior to another stalled vehicle getting smashed by a separate autonomous boat.
“Details of the damage are unknown, but for the Pentagon such incidents are an inauspicious start as it moves into a new era of robotic maritime warfare,” detailed the Mail.
Referencing a roughly $5 billion investment toward “maritime autonomous systems” that had been included in the One Big Beautiful Bill Act, the report went on, “President Donald Trump wants a vast fleet of such drone vessels, including kamikaze speedboats, to be able to swarm off Taiwan by 2027, when China has said its military will be ready to invade the island.”
According to a Sept. 3 memo reported by Breaking Defense, Navy Secretary John Phelan took action toward the establishment of a deputy assistant secretary of the Navy for robotic and autonomous systems (RAS). “To ensure the success of this effort, all [Department of the Navy] acquisition activities shall pause RAS-related acquisition decisions and contracting actions (including awards and modifications) during the 30-day analysis, unless explicitly approved …”
That memo was preceded by an advisement to locals in Ventura County of a Large Force Test Event that began Friday and was expected to last roughly two weeks featuring multi-service aircraft, surface vessels and unmanned systems staged and launched from Point Mugu.
Last year, Admiral Samual Paparo, commander of the U.S. Indo-Pacific Command, told The Washington Post, “I want to turn the Taiwan Strait into an unmanned hellscape using a number of classified capabilities.”
“I can make their lives utterly miserable for a month, which buys me the time for the rest of everything,” he went on as later in 2024, then-Chief of Naval Operations Adm. Lisa Franchetti’s Navigation Plan 2024 had stated, “The Navigation Plan for America’s Warfighting Navy is my overarching strategic guidance to make our Navy more ready, prioritizing raising our level of readiness for potential conflict with the People’s Republic of China by 2027 while also enhancing the Navy’s long-term warfighting advantage.”
The plan sought to implement Project 33 and “integrate proven robotic and autonomous systems for routine use by the commanders who will employ them.”
Efforts at advancing unmanned capabilities on the open seas comes amid another report that highlighted how the Pentagon had already begun integrating AI technology into America’s defensive systems as deals had been signed earlier in 2025 with leaders in the industry including Anthropic, Google, OpenAI and xAI.
Pentagon reportedly integrating AI into defense systems, but is that really such a good idea? https://t.co/zjrSlOf7F3 via @BIZPACReview
— BPR based (@DumpstrFireNews) September 3, 2025
Native of Brooklyn, NY, Kevin Haggerty is a graduate of Hunter College where he studied Cultural Anthropology and Geography. An avid reader and truth seeker, he currently resides in Texas with his wife and their dog and, when he isn't researching current events and their impacts, you'll find him spending time with friends and family or working on his next novel.
Comment
We have no tolerance for comments containing violence, racism, profanity, vulgarity, doxing, or discourteous behavior. If a comment is spam, instead of replying to it please click the ∨ icon below and to the right of that comment. Thank you for partnering with us to maintain fruitful conversation.