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July 16, 2026

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CNA Explains: The US has deployed sea drones in combat for the first time. Here’s why it matters

An analyst says that the use of the sea drones by the US “lies less in the platform itself than in what it signals”.

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SINGAPORE: Drones have transformed modern warfare, but until Sunday (Jul 12), the United States had never deployed sea drones in combat operations.

That changed when the US used unmanned surface vessels, also known as sea drones, in strikes on Iran’s Bandar Abbas Naval Base.

Three US Corsair drones targeted “a submarine and ship maintenance facility” at the port, marking the first time American forces employed sea drones in combat operations, the US Central Command (CENTCOM) said on X on Monday.

CENTCOM said the strikes “degraded Iran’s ability to continue attacking commercial shipping”. It also released footage showing sea drones exploding near the piers, sending thick plumes of smoke into the air.

The operation underscores the growing role of uncrewed systems in modern warfare. But what exactly are sea drones and why does their first combat use by the US matter?

What are sea drones?

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Unmanned surface vessels (USV), also known as sea drones, are boats that can operate without a crew on board.

Smaller than naval vessels such as frigates, destroyers and cruisers, they can be remotely operated or used to navigate missions autonomously.

Sea drones are used for a range of missions, including intelligence and surveillance, reconnaissance, mine countermeasures, logistics, and search and rescue.

USVs allow navies to employ their crew more effectively, as sea drones are not intended to operate independently of other naval assets, said Ms Benedicta Nathania Palit, a research analyst from the Indo-Pacific Strategic Intelligence.

She said that sea drones are still employed as part of a wider system “where they contribute to a common operational picture and support better-informed operational decision-making”.

Increasingly, they are also being used for strike operations, said Mr Joseph Kristanto, a research analyst at the Maritime Security Programme, S Rajaratnam School of International Studies (RSIS).

The drones used by the US in its attack on Iran’s Bandar Abbas Naval Base were one-way attack surface drones, according to CENTCOM.

Modern sea drones can also be equipped for missions such as maritime interdiction operations and anti-ship strikes, said Dr Collin Koh, senior fellow and coordinator of projects for naval and maritime affairs at RSIS.

Dr Koh pointed to Ukraine, which has developed sea drones capable of carrying out anti-air warfare missions, and even serve as unmanned “motherships” that launch smaller unmanned aerial systems.

Why is this significant?

While the US has used sea drones before, Sunday’s strike marked their first use in combat.

In June, the US military used an unmanned surface vessel in a rescue mission after an Apache attack helicopter was shot down by Iran.

The rescue operation has been widely reported as the first known US use of a sea drone to recover personnel at sea.

The drone deployment was part of the Pentagon’s push to expand the use of unmanned vehicles alongside traditional military assets, Reuters reported.

Ms Palit said that the use of the sea drones by the US “lies less in the platform itself than in what it signals”.

“That arc, from sensor to rescue asset to weapon in a single deployment illustrates how these systems have evolved from experimental platforms into genuine operational tools.

“It demonstrates that autonomous maritime systems are moving beyond experimentation and are integrated into operational planning and force employment,” Ms Palit said.

Mr Kristanto echoed her views, saying: “This operation signals that sea drones are no longer viewed by major navies as merely an experimental capability that’s being developed on the side, but they’re also being actively integrated into the toolkit of said navies.”

Sea drones are not completely new to warfare, said Mr Kristanto, noting how Ukraine has used them in a “strike role to great effect” since the start of the conflict with Russia in 2022.

The adoption of sea drones by the US helps to “further validate their battlefield potential”, he said.

Kyiv, on Wednesday, claimed it hit 116 Russian vessels over nine days, including several tankers and cargo ships.

Dr Koh said the US’ first combat use of sea drones was likely “inspired by Ukraine’s relative successes in the Black Sea and Sea of Azov”.

“The US combat employment of such sea drones is significant as it reflects the successes that are starting to show in the US Department of Defense unmanned systems programme and all the investments ploughed into it especially since Ukraine showed that this can be done,” Dr Koh added.

What is unique about the Corsair sea drones?

The drones used in the strike on Iran were Corsair unmanned surface vessels made by Texas-based defence company Saronic Technologies.

Saronic’s Corsair is a 7.3m-long autonomous surface vessel capable of carrying a payload capacity of up to 454kg, has a range of more than 1,000 nautical miles, and is able to hit a top speed of 35 knots (64kmh) and above.

The company says the Corsair is capable of supporting a range of “strategic blue-water operations” and is interoperable, autonomous and scalable.

It also said it is “capable of delivering thousands of Corsair on an annual basis”, in line with the US military’s push to field unmanned systems at scale.

Ms Palit said that the Corsair’s multi-mission, modular design gives naval commanders flexibility for missions without developing a separate platform for each role.

Before Sunday’s strike, the Corsair had been used in the rescue mission on what is reported as the first known American use of an unmanned military vessel to recover personnel at sea.

After the attack on Iran, Saronic reposted CENTCOM’s announcement on X, confirming that its drones were used in what the US military described as the first combat deployment of American sea drones.

The Corsair reportedly entered operational service with the US Navy’s Task Force 59 in March. Task Force 59 is the Navy’s first unit dedicated to unmanned systems.

Mr Kristanto said that what stands out for the Corsair drones is their versatility beyond their “range, payload capacity, and autonomous navigation”.

“This shows that the exact same platform can be adapted for very different missions, therefore reducing the need to develop an entirely new design for every existing or new operational requirement,” he said.

Saronic was awarded a US$392 million contract with the US Navy in December 2025, with the contract focusing on the company’s Corsair drones.

Are sea drones changing naval warfare?

Ms Palit said that sea drones are unlikely to replace frigates or destroyers, but admits that they are “changing how navies conduct maritime operations”.

“Rather than relying solely on high-value manned platforms, navies can pair autonomous systems with conventional warships for dangerous, repetitive, or long-endurance tasks, allowing crewed vessels to focus on missions that only they can perform.

“They also shift the cost equation by distributing capability across a wider area at lower cost and lower risk to personnel,” Ms Palit said.

Mr Kristanto also said that sea drones represent an “important shift” in naval warfare, but not in the way that people think.

Echoing Ms Palit’s statement on cost, Mr Kristanto said that sea drones aid naval commanders by providing them with an option, as their “low-cost and unmanned nature means that they can undertake missions that would otherwise expose a high-value surface combatant and its crew to unnecessary risks”.

“Just as importantly, they allow navies to generate mass at a fraction of the cost of building additional surface combatants,” he added.

This means that instead of relying solely on a limited number of sophisticated warships, commanders can now field more platforms to conduct reconnaissance, deception, strike, or attrition missions simultaneously, Mr Kristanto explained.

Mr Kristanto added that the one-way attack sea drones can also serve as an expendable weapon against relatively lightly defended targets, reducing the need to deploy more expensive long-range precision munitions.

“This creates a more favourable cost exchange while preserving finite stocks of high-end weapons, such as Tomahawk cruise missiles, for scenarios where their greater range and sophistication would genuinely be required against a more capable adversary,” he said.

Mr Kristanto also sees sea drones complementing the conventional fleets and does not agree that sea drones have made those ships “irrelevant”.

Sea drones are still incapable of certain activities or missions such as securing sea lines of communication, escorting merchant shipping, projecting sovereignty and conducting humanitarian assistance and disaster relief, he said.

“Their greatest contribution is not that they make warships obsolete, but that they enable navies to fight in a more distributed, scalable and cost-effective manner by combining crewed and uncrewed systems into a single force.”

Ms Palit said that autonomous systems are not a “substitute for sound strategy or human judgment”.

“Their strategic value depends as much on doctrine, command-and-control, and operational concepts as on the technology itself.

“As these systems mature and spread, how much they ultimately reshape naval warfare will depend on how states balance their operational advantages against the risks of miscalculation and escalation in contested waters.”

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Source: CNA/fh(rj)

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