Jan. 10, 2018 —
Crewmembers of Coast Guard Cutter Stratton, a national security cutter based in Alameda, California, place bales of heroin and cocaine onto a crane to be removed from the ship’s flight deck on Sept. 20, 2017, in San Diego. The prototype small unmanned aircraft system capability with which Stratton was outfitted in late 2016 has assisted in multiple drug interdictions. U.S. Coast Guard photo by Petty Officer DaVonté Marrow.
The Coast Guard is continuing its research to understand the state of technology available in the long-range and ultra-long endurance unmanned aircraft systems (LR/U-LE UAS) market. The research aims to identify the ways in which LR/U-LE UAS technologies have succeeded in other operational theaters and to see how the Coast Guard could apply these technologies to maritime operations, including support of law enforcement activities in offshore transit zones.
The Coast Guard’s examination of LR/U-LE UAS is part of a larger effort to incorporate unmanned technologies into operations. The service is also procuring small UAS capability for its fleet of national security cutters.
A recent post on the Coast Guard Compass blog describes the project in more detail.
For more information: Research, Development, Test and Evaluation program page