Iran’s recent seizure of US Navy UAVs shed light on a pioneering Pentagon program to develop networks of air, surface and underwater drones for patrolling large regions, dovetailing their surveillance with artificial intelligence.

The year-long program operates numerous unmanned surface vessels, or USVs, in the waters surrounding the Arabian Peninsula, collecting data and images that are beamed back to collection centers in the Gulf.

The program ran without incident until, in two incidents, on August 29-30 and September 1, Iranian forces attempted to seize three seven-meter Saildrone Explorer UPSs.

In the first case, an IRGC ship hooked a line to a Saildrone in the Gulf and began towing it away, only releasing it as a US Navy patrol boat and helicopter rushed to the scene.

In the second case, an Iranian destroyer picked up two Saildrones in the Red Sea and lifted them on board.

Two US Navy destroyers and helicopters quickly descended and persuaded the Iranians to abandon them the next day, but only after taking cameras from them, the US military said.

The Iranians said the UPSs are on international shipping lanes and were picked up “to prevent possible accidents”.

The US Navy said the USVs were operating well outside of shipping lanes and were unarmed.

Vice Admiral Brad Cooper, commander of the US Naval Forces Central Command, called the Iranian actions “blatant, unjustified and inconsistent with the conduct of a professional naval force”.

US forces “will continue to fly, sail and operate wherever international law permits,” he added.

The drones are operated by the Bahrain-based U.S. 5th Fleet’s Task Force 59, which was formed last year to integrate unmanned systems and artificial intelligence into operations in the Middle East.

Aerial and underwater drones are fairly well developed and tested, but unmanned surface boats are much newer yet essential for the future, Commander Tim Hawkins, spokesman for the 5th Fleet, told AFP.

Since launching last year, the US Navy and regional partners have deployed both low-speed UPSs like Saildrones and battery-powered speedboats like the Mantas T-12.

Equipped with solar panels and sail wings, the Saildrones carry multiple sensors and cameras and are designed to spend up to a year at sea, transmitting data via satellite.

Based in San Francisco, Saildrone operates approximately 100 vessels around the world for clients including the Pentagon, major oceanographic institutes, meteorological agencies and groups that study fisheries and pollution.

“Having circumnavigated Antarctica in 2019 and then sailing through the eye of a Category 4 hurricane last year, there really is no maritime environment our drones could not operate in,” said Saildrone spokeswoman Susan Ryan.

In the Gulf, Hawkins would only say they are gathering intelligence to “enhance our vigilance over the surrounding seas and strengthen our regional deterrent posture.”

But Iranian activities are probably the main target.

Iran also patrols the region and has attacked and seized foreign merchant ships and harassed US Navy vessels in several tense disputes in recent years.

The US Navy has attempted to prevent Iran from supplying arms to Yemen’s Houthi rebels and other groups, and also helps enforce sanctions against Iran.

The key, Hawkins said, is to quickly understand the information gathered from all sorts of unmanned sources in the air, on the ground and at sea.

Artificial intelligence helps identify unusual activity such as unnoticed ships in the UPS data that human observers may miss.

“You need artificial intelligence to figure out what deserves more attention,” he said.

Hawkins said it’s unclear why it was only after a year of the program that the Iranians suddenly decide to try to retrieve some Saildrones.

Nothing the US does is secret, he noted.

The program was announced last September, and in February, the 5th Fleet hosted the International Maritime Exercise 2022, bringing together 10 countries and more than 80 USVs to test them in the Gulf.

Despite this, the US opted to place Task Force 59 in the tense Gulf rather than another, less challenging region, and the activities appear to have disrupted Tehran.

The US military says the program is partly about developing tactics and doctrine for operating UPSs, including learning how to deal with a country like Iran trying to get them from the sea.

Right now, the US is operating them with manned surface ships nearby to deal with disruptions.

“You can’t just pull stuff out of the ocean that has a country’s flag on it,” said a US official.

“If it’s our nation’s sovereign property, they have to give it up,” the official said.