US Subcommittee Mulls Technology: Can the Coast Guard Keep Up?

US Coast Guard and Maritime Transportation Subcommittee Chairman Mike Ezell (R-MS) chaired a hearing, entitled “Changes in Maritime Technology: Can the Coast Guard Keep Up?” on Tuesday.

The maritime industry is undergoing a rapid period of transformation, including the adoption of autonomous technology and robotics that could transform the sector, as well as threats from drones and cyber-attacks that require increased vigilance.

Ezell introduced the hearing saying: “Last February, in our hearing on ‘America Builds: Maritime Infrastructure,’ we noted the need for the United States Coast Guard to rapidly develop a regulatory framework to enable these technologies to operate safely. We are here today to discuss both the Coast Guard’s efforts to regulate an industry incorporating these technologies, as well as its own use of these advanced maritime technologies.”

Excerpts from the submissions made at the hearing:

Rear Admiral David C. Barata, Deputy Commandant for Operations Policy and Assistant Commandant for Intelligence, United States Coast Guard:

“As part of Force Design 2028, on July 1, 2025, the Coast Guard established the Robotics and Autonomous Systems (RAS) Program Executive Office (PEO). The RAS PEO consolidated multiple offices into one cohesive program dedicated to the acquisition and integration of autonomous capabilities across all Coast Guard missions and domains. The RAS PEO will expedite the implementation and operationalization of the Coast Guard’s Unmanned Systems Strategic Plan…

“Looking to the future, the One Big Beautiful Bill Act provides historic funding for the Coast Guard including $266 million for procurement and acquisition of organic Long-Range UAS and $75 million to contract the services of, acquire, or procure autonomous maritime systems. The Coast Guard is evaluating all Long-Range UAS solutions and options to best meet Coast Guard missions. In addition to the acquisition of multiple Long-Range UAS and support infrastructure, the Coast Guard is evaluating current maritime domain dominance and operational needs to determine what state of the art technologies are suitable for closing the Service’s capability gaps.”

Rear Admiral Jason P. Tama, Commander, Coast Guard Cyber Command, United States Coast Guard:

“The Coast Guard is working with industry and government partners to oversee the safe deployment and use of autonomous and remote-controlled maritime technology. As new commercial autonomous vessels increase in size, complexity, and quantity, and more frequently share the waterways with one another, conventional vessels, and other waterway users, the technology will likely increase safety risk to the marine transportation system. There are also cybersecurity risks associated with autonomous or remote-controlled vessels related to their need for advanced computing and communication technology.

“Nearly all of the Coast Guard’s statutory authorities and regulations for commercial maritime operations were enacted or issued on the premise of seafarers being physically on-board vessels. They do not contemplate uncrewed operations. Nevertheless, the Coast Guard is working within these existing authorities, some of which are decades-old, to safely integrate autonomous and remote-controlled technologies into the maritime domain. While simultaneously developing new domestic and international frameworks, there is a need to mitigate risk within the current legal regime.”

Andrew Von Ah, Director, Physical Infrastructure, Government Accountability Office:

“Local Captains of the Port handle requests for operations and testing of autonomous ships by applying regulations and guidance on a case-by-case basis and, when appropriate, forwarding industry requests to the Coast Guard Commandant. Captains of the Port told us they keep Coast Guard headquarters informed of autonomous testing and operations and document these tests and operations in the Coast Guard’s data systems.

“Headquarters officials noted that the Coast Guard’s regulatory framework gives Captains of the Port discretion on decision-making. These officials told us that industry stakeholders have raised concerns about consistency across individual ports. Consequently, officials said that the Coast Guard is working to ensure Captains of the Port have the guidance they need and use the same risk assessment framework so that they can consistently assess project risks within the unique characteristics of each individual port and geographic location. Coast Guard officials told us that since 2024, local Captains of the Port have received 48 such requests involving autonomous ship technology and that these Captains of the Port had the relevant authorities to manage the autonomous ship operations and associated risks at the local level.”

Heidi C. Perry (TBC), Chair, Report on Leveraging Unmanned Systems for Coast Guard Missions, National Academies of Sciences:

“Advances in Intelligence, Surveillance, and Reconnaissance (ISR) capabilities will reap the benefits of a number of breakthroughs in enabling technical capability.

“Proliferated Satellite Constellations: Future space capability will be provided by hundreds or even thousands of small, low-cost satellites in low-earth orbit. Enabled by AI, advances in edge computing, focal plane arrays and on-chip image processing, these satellites have the potential to improve space-based surveillance rates at several orders of magnitude. Satellite-based communication networks could also support swarm USV and UAV capability. Synthetic aperture radar satellite systems could provide persistent detection, classification, and tracking of vessel traffic and icebergs in the Arctic region, improving situation awareness and therefore the safety of all vessels and commercial activities in these areas.

“Advanced Sensors: Next generation ground-based and mobile radar systems, as well as novel small form-factor optical and infrared sensors will push state of the art in surveillance capability.

“Generative AI: Advanced AI models trained on massive data sets can revolutionize ISR by automating data processing (video, image, text) and analysis, identifying patterns, anomalies and threats, and highlighting features for analysts to further review. By reducing human overload in complex operations, AI can serve as a force multiplier enabling decision makers to more rapidly act as necessary, or assist in complex workflows. AI may also generate synthetic data, creating realistic simulations and virtual environments to evaluate strategies and train other AI models to handle unique or rare mission scenarios.”