Navigating the future of AI-driven platforms in US maritime forces: Weapons and Warfare

Jul 09, 2025 at 03:30 AM CDT

Host Ryan Robertson examines the transformative impact of artificial intelligence (AI) on military maritime operations. — Image credit: Joseph Bullinger, U.S. Navy via DVIDS

This recording was made using enhanced software.

This week on Weapons and Warfare, it’s all about artificial intelligence (AI) and autonomy in the open water. Host Ryan Robertson examines the transformative impact of AI on military maritime operations.

Learn how the U.S. Navy, Marine Corps and Coast Guard are integrating AI-driven autonomous platforms, from unmanned vessels and advanced drones, to enhance operational effectiveness. Hear from experts on the challenges of integrating this emerging technology into their fleets.

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Also featured in this episode:

Comms Check updates on Kraken Technologies K4 Manta, Anduril Dive XL and Boeing Orca.
Weapon of the Week: See how the Video Ray Mission Specialist heavy-payload ROV is transforming marine operations with its advanced technology, maneuverability, and capability.

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Ryan Robertson is the anchor of the Straight Arrow News video podcast Weapons and Warfare. He wore many hats in his career — from photographer to news director — and firmly believes honest journalism will save our Republic.

Tags: AI, Artificial Intelligence, Marines, military, Navy

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[RYAN ROBERTSON]
HEY FOLKS–THANKS FOR HITTING THAT PLAY BUTTON AND WELCOME TO ANOTHER EPISODE OF WEAPONS AND WARFARE. FOR STRAIGHT ARROW NEWS, I’M RYAN ROBERTSON, AND THIS WEEK WE’RE TAKING A DEEP DIVE–
PUN VERY MUCH INTENDED–
ON THE FUTURE OF AUTONOMY AT SEA.

[RYAN ROBERTSON]
SO WE’RE CATCHING UP ON SOME STORIES WE’VE COVERED IN PREVIOUS EPISODES, LIKE THE MANTA 4 BUILT BY KRAKEN, ANDURIL’S DIVE XL, AND THE BOEING ORCA.

[RYAN ROBERTSON]
PLUS WE’LL GET AN UP-CLOSE LOOK AT BLUE HALO’S MISSION SPECIALIST DEFENDER, A CUTTING-EDGE VEHICLE DESIGNED TO TACKLE THE MOST DEMANDING UNDERWATER TASKS WITH PRECISION AND CONTROL.

[RYAN ROBERTSON]
ALRIGHT, TO START THIS WEEK–WE’RE TALKING NATIONAL DEFENSE AND HOW THOSE THAT OPERATE IN THE MARITIME SPACE ARE LEANING ON INDUSTRY LEADERS TO BRING LETHALITY, SURVIVABILITY, AND AFFORDABILITY TO THE FIGHT.

[RYAN ROBERTSON]
FOR ALMOST AS LONG AS PEOPLE HAVE BEEN SETTING SAIL, THEY HAVE UNDERSTOOD THE IMPORTANCE OF SEA POWER. FROM THE ANCIENT GREEKS TO THE COLD WAR, TO TODAY, TIME AND AGAIN PIONEERS OF NAVAL WARFARE HAVE HELPED SHAPE, AND RESHAPE THE WORLD AS WE KNOW IT.

[RYAN ROBERTSON]
NOW, WITH THE ADVENT OF AUTONOMOUS CAPABILITIES, AND THE EMERGENCE OF ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE IN THE BATTLESPACE, NAVAL WARFARE IS ON THE EDGE OF ANOTHER GENERATIONAL SHIFT. SO MUCH SO THAT THIS YEAR’S SEA, AIR, SPACE EVENT, PUT ON BY THE NAVY LEAGUE, FEATURED A PANEL OF SENIOR MILITARY LEADERSHIP, AND AN INDUSTRY PARTNER TO TALK ABOUT WHERE THINGS STAND, AND WHERE THEY NEED TO GO.

[RADM KURT ROTHENHAUS]
The way the Navy has gotten after this is really recognizing that AI is a bit like electricity. It’s very ubiquitous. Its use case can be applied across so many different domains, from war fighting to our readiness piece to really the business of how we operate the Navy. There’s so many facets where we feel like we need to weave this technology into the very fabric of how we do business and how we approach war fighting.

[RYAN ROBERTSON]
CHIEF OF NAVAL RESEARCH, REAR ADMIRAL KURT ROTHENHAUS, SAYS THE BRANCH’S APPROACH FOCUSES ON IDENTIFYING PROBLEMS THEY WANT AI TO SOLVE, RATHER THAN USING IT JUST TO USE IT.

[RADM KURT ROTHENHAUS]
What are the most important and critical war, fighting gaps, readiness gaps, that we want to leverage the technology as established by the CNO and the nav plan.

[RYAN ROBERTSON]
IT’S AN EVOLUTION, THE MARINE CORPS’ DIRECTOR OF CAPABILITIES DEVELOPMENT AND INTEGRATION SAYS HAS BEEN ON THE AGENDA OF GENERAL ERIC SMITH, AS WELL AS HIS PREDECESSORS.

[MAJGEN FARRELL SULLIVAN]
The Commandant’s intent is that we are fighting at the tactical edge in that environment, and we’re providing capability to sense, make sense, and deliver long range fires, or provide what’s needed to our joint partners and our combined partners to deliver their long range fires, all right, and that’s essential.

[RYAN ROBERTSON]
MAJOR GENERAL FARRELL SULLIVAN SAYS IT’S THE NEXT LOGICAL STEP IN THE CORPS EMBRACE OF AI AND AUTONOMOUS PROJECTS; LIKE THEIR AUTONOMOUS LOW PROFILE VESSEL, NICKNAMED THE NARCO BOAT, SOMETHING WE REPORTED ON IN THE EARLY DAYS OF WEAPONS AND WARFARE. THE ALPV IS USED TO GET CRITICAL SUPPLIES TO FORWARD DEPLOYED MARINES.

[MAJGEN FARRELL SULLIVAN]
Now we’re moving towards sensors that we are employing at sea, not to compete with the Navy, but to fill in where the Navy may not be. And I don’t mean that as a shot across your pal in any way, shape or form. I mean it completely as a teammate and partner, but that’s a business that the Marine Corps has not been in in the past.

[RYAN ROBERTSON]
THE ADDITION OF AUTONOMOUS VEHICLES PILOTED BY AI IS A DEVELOPMENT THAT BOTH BRANCHES ARE LEANING ON THEIR INDUSTRY PARTNERS TO FIND THE RIGHT BLEND OF MARINES, SAILORS, AND TECHNOLOGY.

[RYAN ROBERTSON]
HELPING DRIVE THE PUSH TOWARDS THIS NEW ERA OF DEFENSE IS FORMER NAVY SEAL, AND FRIEND OF THE SHOW, BRANDON TSENG.

[BRANDON TSENG]
Certainly defense technology was not a word that I ever heard in 2015. It’s great to see where we are today and the role that defense tech companies are playing helping great customers like our Coast Guard, our Marine Corps and our Navy solve some of their most challenging problems.

[RYAN ROBERTSON]
THE CO-FOUNDER AND PRESIDENT OF SHIELD AI HAS A LONG AND PROVEN TRACK RECORD OF DEVELOPING AI SYSTEMS LIKE HIVEMIND–THE PILOT THAT AUTONOMOUSLY FLEW THEN SECRETARY OF THE AIR FORCE FRANK KENDALL IN AN F-16. TSENG’S COMPANY ALSO BUILT AI PILOTED PLATFORMS THAT WERE USED IN IRAQ, AFGHANISTAN, SYRIA AND MOST RECENTLY IN ISRAEL TO HELP FREE HOSTAGES HELD IN GAZA. HE SAYS IT’S JUST THE FIRST STEP IN BRINGING MORE MASS TO THE FIGHT.

[BRANDON TSENG]
I want to put a million AI pilots into the customer’s hands in the next 10 years. When I look at 2045 I think that becomes 100 million AI pilots. And so that means it’s a complete fundamental transformation of how a military thinks about their military, how a military thinks about their force structure. When you are no longer limited by the number of personnel that you have in your military, what kind of power can you project? What kind of adversaries can you deter? That is why AI and autonomy is the most transformational capability of our time.

[RYAN ROBERTSON]
SOMETHING THE PANEL EMPHASIZED WAS THE EMPLOYMENT OF AI SYSTEMS DOESN’T NECESSARILY MEAN THE PURCHASE OF HARDWARE. CASE IN POINT, THE U.S. COAST GUARD. THEY’VE PARTNERED WITH SHIELD AI TO UTILIZE THEIR V-BAT PLATFORM AS PART OF A CONTRACTOR-OWNED, CONTRACTOR-OPERATED SERVICE.

[RYAN ROBERTSON]
THIS MEANS SHIELD AI RETAINS OWNERSHIP AND OPERATION OF THE V-BATS, WHILE PROVIDING THE COAST GUARD WITH INTELLIGENCE, SURVEILLANCE, AND RECONNAISSANCE SERVICES.

[BRIAN CAMPO]
I want to buy a capability. I don’t necessarily want to buy a product. If I need C2 data on the water, I don’t necessarily need to own the vehicle that is delivering that. If I’m looking to get sensor data, if you can put a sensor in a place where I need data from it, I am probably happier to buy that data from you than I am to buy the platform that you’re using to deliver it.

[RYAN ROBERTSON]
EVIDENCE OF THE DOD’S INVESTMENT IN AI ISN’T HARD TO FIND. A REPORT BY EXECUTIVE-GOV SHOWS THE ALLOCATION OF $1.1 BILLION IN FISCAL YEAR 2023, $1.8 BILLION FOR 2024, AND PROPOSES THE SAME FOR 2025.

[RYAN ROBERTSON]
AND I KNOW SOME OF YOU ARE THINKING THIS ALL SOUNDS SORT OF LIKE THE BEGINNING OF TERMINATOR’S SKYNET. BUT THAT’S A NOTION GENERAL SULLIVAN SAYS DOESN’T QUITE MATCH REALITY.

[MAJGEN FARRELL SULLIVAN]
There may be a day that comes where we do go fully autonomous, and there’s less human in the loop, but that’s not where we are today and that’s not what we intend to do.

[RYAN ROBERTSON]
71% OF THE EARTH’S SURFACE IS COVERED BY WATER. BUT WHEN WE THINK WEAPONS USED FOR NATIONAL DEFENSE, THE NATURAL INCLINATION IS TO THINK OF GROUND, OR AIR, BASED SYSTEMS.

[RYAN ROBERTSON]
AND WHILE IT’S TRUE MOST CONFLICTS DO TAKE PLACE ON LAND, THERE IS PLENTY OF AREA IN THAT 71% OF WATER COVERED EARTH FOR AN ADVERSARY TO LOOK FOR AN ADVANTAGE. AND THAT’S WHERE OUR WEAPON OF THE WEEK COMES IN.

[RYAN ROBERTSON]
MEET THE MISSION SPECIALIST DEFENDER.

BUILT BY VIDEO RAY, A COMPANY OWNED BY FRIEND OF THE SHOW BLUEHALO, THE DEFENDER IS THE U.S. NAVY’S PROGRAM OF RECORD FOR NEXT GENERATION EXPLOSIVE ORDINANCE DISPOSAL RESPONSE. IT CAN ALSO BE USED FOR MOBILE DIVING, SALVAGE MISSIONS, AND SECURITY.

[ERIC WIRSTON]
If you think in terms of find, fix and finish, right? So find, you’re looking for things in the water, and then once you’ve found something, now you have to figure out what it is, right, identify it. Is it a lobster pot or is it a mine? And it has sonars and video capability so that you’re able to map the bottom and figure out what these things are. Now you also are going to geo reference it right, geo locate it—that’s fixed. So now you know where it is on the ocean floor and in what depth of water. And then you can finish right, which is some type of effect that could be to go and put a diver on it, or it could be to place an explosive charge, or some type of kinetic end effector to neutralize the mine.

[RYAN ROBERTSON]
IT CAN RUN OFF THE SHIP’S POWER OR WITH TWO DIFFERENT BATTERY SOLUTIONS. ERIC WIRSTON, THE VP OF SALES AND BUSINESS DEVELOPMENT FOR VIDEO RAY, SAYS ONE OF THE SELLING POINTS FOR THE DEFENDER IS EASE OF OPERATION.

[ERIC WIRSTON]
We really designed in user functionality, both in terms of operations and its maintainability. So if you can fly an iPhone, you can fly a Mission Specialist Defender. The graphic user interface is designed to be very intuitive and very useful, because we know that that is one of eight missions that a sailor is going to have to do that day. They don’t need a PhD in marine robotics to be able to operate the vehicle.

[RYAN ROBERTSON]
WIRSTON SAYS ANOTHER BENEFIT OF THE DEFENDER—IT’S EASY TO FIX AND MAINTAIN.

[ERIC WIRSTON]
We have designed this thing to be very modular, so that if anything were to fail in it, a couple of mechanical fasteners, an electrical connector and a quick sync with an app, and you’ve got it back in service and in the water where it’s meant to be.

[RYAN ROBERTSON]
BUILT TO OPERATE AT NEARLY 1,000 FEET BELOW THE WATER’S SURFACE, IT CAN GO AS DEEP AS 3,200 FEET.

[ERIC WIRSTON]
We have some 500 different applications that have been integrated into the Mission Specialist platform. So if there is a use case underwater, we likely have a solution. We’re focused on the platform. We make it very easy for our industry partners to be able to integrate—both in terms of software applications and sensors and kinetic effectors.

[RYAN ROBERTSON]
ANOTHER LIKELY SELLING POINT FOR THE NAVY WHEN IT CAME TO INKING A DEAL FOR THE DEFENDER PROGRAM—IT’S PROVEN TRACK RECORD. THE BRITISH AND AUSTRALIAN NAVIES HAVE BEEN USING THE ROV SINCE 2017.

[RYAN ROBERTSON]
ALRIGHT FOLKS, THAT’S GOING TO DO IT FOR US THIS WEEK ON WEAPONS AND WARFARE. QUICK REMINDER TO PLEASE LIKE AND SUBSCRIBE TO OUR SOCIAL MEDIA FEEDS–AND DOWNLOAD THE STRAIGHT ARROW NEWS APP TODAY IF YOU HAVEN’T ALREADY.

FOR MY WRAP THIS WEEK I WANT TO SPEND JUST A FEW MINUTES TALKING ABOUT THE IMPORTANCE OF FOLLOWING A PROCESS…OR LETTING A PROCESS PLAY OUT.

WE HEAR IT SAID IN SPORTS ALL THE TIME–ATHLETES NEED TO TRUST THE PROCESS IF THEY WANT TO SEE THE RESULTS.

IN JOURNALISM–THE SAME IDEA HOLDS TRUE WHEN WAITING FOR AN INVESTIGATION TO PLAY OUT. DOESN’T REALLY MATTER WHAT SORT OF INVESTIGATION WE’RE TALKING ABOUT–IT WILL TAKE TIME FOR INVESTIGATORS TO DO THEIR JOBS… AND MORE TIME FOR THEIR FINDINGS TO BE MADE PUBLIC.

SO, RESPONSIBLE JOURNALISTS NEED TO RECOGNIZE WHEN CERTAIN PROCESSES ARE TAKING PLACE–AND PROVIDE THEIR AUDIENCES WITH THE PROPER CONTEXT SO THAT NO ONE JUMPS TO CONCLUSIONS.

FOR INSTANCE–IN THE CASE OF OPERATION MIDNIGHT HAMMER–WHEN THE U.S. BOMBED IRAN’S NUCLEAR SITES–PRESIDENT TRUMP SAID WITHIN MINUTES OF THE BOMBS DROPPING THAT ALL OF IRAN’S NUCLEAR FACILITIES WERE COMPLETELY OBLITERATED. A STATEMENT WHICH MAY PROVE TRUE–BUT THERE’S NO WAY THE PRESIDENT OR ANYONE ELSE COULD HAVE KNOWN AT THE TIME IF THE SITES WERE INDEED COMPLETELY DESTROYED.

IN THE DAYS AFTER THE STRIKE–A REPORT FROM ONE OF THE 18 U.S. INTELLIGENCE AGENCIES CAST DOUBT ON WHETHER THE STRIKES WERE EFFECTIVE–BUT THE REPORT CAME OUT SO EARLY IN THE INVESTIGATIVE PROCESS–IT WAS GIVEN A LOW-CONFIDENCE RANK…SO CLEARLY, MORE INVESTIGATION IS NEEDED…THE PROCESS NEEDS TO PLAY OUT.

BUT THAT DIDN’T STOP THE BACK AND FORTH BETWEEN JILTED MEDIA FIGURES AND THE WHITE HOUSE…WHEN BOTH SIDES JUMPED TO CONCLUSIONS ABOUT AN ISSUE THAT BOTH SIDES KNEW WOULD TAKE MORE TIME TO SETTLE.

WHEN I WAS A NEWS DIRECTOR FOR A FEW DIFFERENT LOCAL OUTLETS–I ALWAYS TOLD MY REPORTERS I’D RATHER BE SECOND AND RIGHT…THAN FIRST AND WRONG.

IN THE DIGITAL WORLD WE CRAVE INSTANT GRATIFICATION. BUT THE TRUTH IS IMPORTANT ENOUGH WE SHOULD BE WILLING TO WAIT FOR IT….AND STOP JUMPING TO CONCLUSIONS.

FOR SENIOR PRODUCER BRETT BAKER, VIDEO EDITOR BRIAN SPENCER AND GRAPHICS ARTIST DAKOTA PITEO–I’M RYAN ROBERTSON FOR STRAIGHT ARROW NEWS SIGNING OFF.

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