Originally published by the American Thinker.
As reported by ZeroHedge, the U.S. Marine Corps is testing a vessel called the Sea Specter, part of a broader effort to adapt “narco sub” technology, intended to be used for operations in the Indo-Pacific. These vessels, modeled after low-profile smuggling craft used by Latin American drug cartels, are being militarized to move supplies covertly.
The Sea Specter is a semi-submersible, nearly invisible to radar, with a profile just inches above water, which is ideal for stealth logistics. It is being developed under the Autonomous Low-Profile Vessel (ALPV) program, and built by Leidos, a major U.S. defense contractor.
At sixty five feet, the Sea Specter can haul a payload up to five tons, and can travel 2,300 nautical miles at eight knots. It is able to be remotely operated and is entirely autonomous, capable of route planning and obstacle avoidance, and is marked by its low radar signature.
Notably, the Sea Specter is designed to be “attritable.” This means that it is cheap enough to risk losing in wartime without major cost.
This is where the geopolitical aspect becomes more heightened. This tech is not merely designed for peacetime logistics. It is being developed for a conflict with China. The U.S. is anticipating a potential war over Taiwan (the U.S. recently demanded our allies role in this increasingly probable war reported the Financial Times), where American forces would face heavy missile, naval, and aerial threats from the People’s Liberation Army (PLA).
China’s Anti-Access/Area-Denial (A2/AD) strategy is designed to push U.S. forced out of the region by threatening bases, ships, and airfields. In that kind of high-risk theater, traditional supply lines are vulnerableโa cargo ship or a C-130 is a gigantic target. This is why these small, stealthy, unmanned, and importantly, inexpensive vessels are becoming a focus for testing. These can spply Marine units while passing through Chinese surveillance networks. According to ZeroHedge, “Bowles says the Marines may want to send a dozen narco subs on such a supply run in wartime, to allow for half of them to be blown up by China.”
The military is adapting unconventional, even outlaw tactics to prepare for war with a near-peer adversary. This signals a major shift in military thinking: stealth, resilience, and decentralization are now priorities. The Sea Specter is just one vessel that the public aware of. It may be only one piece of a larger unmanned logistics network.
As the communist, anti-American superpower, China continues to rise, the people must anticipate that it is not if, but when, the world decends into a war with them.
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