Faced with a rapidly growing threat from uncrewed underwater vehicles, the U.S. Coast Guard is seeking new technology not just to detect these marine drones, but to actively defeat them in ports and coastal waterways. According to a request for solutions posted on the government’s online contracting portal by the Coast Guard Futures Development and Integration Directorate, malicious actors can employ UUVs for intelligence gathering, surveillance, smuggling, sabotage of critical infrastructure, and kinetic strikes.
The Escalating Global UUV Threat
The urgency behind the Coast Guard’s push stems from real-world combat examples where autonomous underwater drones demonstrated their lethality against heavily defended targets. In December, Ukraine claimed it used a Sub Sea Baby UUV built by its state security service to strike an Improved Kilo class diesel-electric submarine in the Black Sea naval stronghold of Novorossiysk, navigating the craft through a harbor in daylight to detonate a warhead near a vessel worth hundreds of millions of dollars. Central Command stated that it successfully conducted self-defense strikes against an unmanned underwater vessel in Houthi-controlled areas of Yemen in February 2024. Furthermore, according to the Times of Israel, Hamas used a small autonomous underwater drone in 2021 to target Israeli naval assets before an Israeli Navy vessel destroyed it close to the shore.
Layered Undersea Surveillance and Detection Challenges
Detecting and tracking small underwater drones presents unique engineering hurdles compared to traditional surface or aerial threats. Navy’s Cold War Sound Surveillance System, which was designed to detect massive foreign submarines rather than small, agile UUVs. While portions of that legacy infrastructure remain active primarily for scientific research, operational coverage relies on surface ships towing sonar, fixed sensor arrays, and processing stations ashore known as the Integrated Undersea Surveillance System.
Emerging Port and Harbor Defense Technologies
Beyond broad surveillance, defending the inner layer of ports and harbors requires active mitigation tools that can disrupt a drone before it reaches high-value maritime assets. During exercise Baltic Operations 2026, Naval Surface Warfare Center Panama City and Unmanned Undersea Vehicle Group One demonstrated three emerging technologies designed to counter UUVs: an expeditionary air curtain, an artificial kelp net, and sea water neutralization charges. According to Senior Electrical Engineer Javi Handal, the expeditionary air curtain is a rapidly deployable underwater system that aerates the water to disrupt a UUV’s depth sensors, acoustic sensors, buoyancy, and propulsion.
Coast Guard Seeks Field-Tested Defeat Solutions
Because detection is only the first step in neutralizing an underwater attack, the Coast Guard’s latest procurement effort targets systems equipped with direct effectors and mitigating capabilities. The service specified in its request that it is looking exclusively for technologies with a Technology Readiness Level of 5 or higher that have been tested and demonstrated in operational settings. Interested industry partners have two weeks to submit proposals for scalable sensor platforms, kinetic solutions, and integrated response systems suitable for deployment in port, harbor, and waterway security scenarios.
Did you know?
The U.S. Navy first encountered Houthi uncrewed underwater vehicle operations in February 2024, marking a significant escalation in asymmetric maritime warfare in the Red Sea region.
Frequently Asked Questions
What is an uncrewed underwater vehicle (UUV)?
A UUV is a submersible drone that operates autonomously or via remote control beneath the surface of the water without a human crew on board.
Why are UUVs difficult for traditional military forces to detect?
According to the Coast Guard, modern UUVs feature advanced navigation capabilities and a covert nature that allow them to evade traditional maritime interdiction tactics and standard harbor surveillance.
What technology readiness level is the Coast Guard requiring for new defenses?
The Coast Guard is limiting its search to systems with a Technology Readiness Level of 5 or higher, meaning the basic components have been integrated and tested in simulated or operational environments.
Explore More: Dive deeper into modern defense strategy by reading our coverage of deployable undersea surveillance networks and ongoing multinational harbor protection exercises.
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