An Ocean Aero Triton USV, left, operates in the Arabian Gulf with a Saildrone Explorer USV during a bilateral exercise between the US Navy and UAE Navy. Credit: Lt. Jay Faylo/U.S. Naval Forces Central Command.

Maritime forces from the US and the United Arab Emirates (UAE) have successfully concluded a week-long uncrewed systems and artificial intelligence (AI) integration exercise.

The bilateral exercise was undertaken in the Arabian Gulf and involved participation of a total of five uncrewed surface vessels (USVs) from the UAE Navy.

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Besides, the US deployed its four USVs, including two Saildrone Explorers, Ocean Aero Triton platform and an L3Harris Technologies-built Arabian Fox MAST-13.

All the four USVs from the US were operated by the Naval Forces Central Command’s (NAVCENT) Task Force 59.

Established in September 2021, the task force is responsible for the integration of new uncrewed systems and AI solutions into the US naval forces, operating across the Middle East region.

This unit, since its launch, has been operating new uncrewed systems at operational hubs in Bahrain and Aqaba in Jordan.

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The latest exercise marks the first such bilateral engagement between Task Force 59 and the UAE Navy. 

During the exercise, the participating USVs from both the nations operated off the coast of UAE and captured imagery and video, using the onboard cameras and sensors, of other vessels that were sailing nearby.

All the recorded videos and visuals were transferred to the operational centres located ashore. After the data transmission, the AI platforms at the operational hubs helped in detecting, identifying and classifying the data.

NAVCENT Task Force 59 lead exercise planner lieutenant Jay Faylo said: “This exercise allowed us to further train our AI platforms to sort through new data sets, which will ultimately enhance our detection capabilities.

“It has been a tremendous opportunity doing this with our Emirati partners who are at the leading edge of technology in the region.”