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Reuters: US Navy building drone fleet to take on China

20 August 2025 18:17 (UTC +04:00)

The United States has already begun testing unmanned sea boats, APA reports citing Reuters.

During a U.S. naval test off the California coast last month, which was designed to showcase the Pentagon’s top autonomous drone boats, one vessel stalled unexpectedly.

As officials scrambled to fix a software glitch, another drone vessel smashed into the idling boat’s starboard side, vaulted over the deck, and crashed back into the water.

The previously unreported episode, which involved two vessels built by U.S. defense tech rivals Saronic and BlackSea Technologies, is one of a series of recent setbacks in the Pentagon’s push to build a fleet of autonomous vessels, according to a dozen people familiar with the program.

U.S. military leaders, seeing the outsized impact of maritime drones in the Ukraine war, have repeatedly said they need autonomous swarms of aerial and maritime drones to hinder a potential advance by China across the Taiwan Strait.

The drones being developed in Ukraine, which often look like speedboats without seats, and are capable of carrying weapons, explosives and surveillance equipment, are primarily remote-controlled and cost close to $250,000 – making them optimal for kamikaze missions that have effectively neutralized Russia's Black Sea Fleet.

The U.S., meanwhile, is aiming to build an autonomous naval fleet that can move in swarms and without human command – a more ambitious task at a higher price point; as much as a few million dollars per speedboat.