Get Full Government Meeting Transcripts, Videos, & Alerts Forever!
House subcommittee presses Coast Guard on plans for unmanned vessels, UAS funding and cyber defenses
Summary
Lawmakers pressed Coast Guard leaders about how they will spend recent congressional funding for unmanned maritime systems, the role of a new Robotics and Autonomous Systems program office, and the service’s cybersecurity posture as autonomy expands in commercial shipping and Coast Guard operations.
Rear Admiral David C. Barata, the Coast Guard’s deputy commandant for operations policy and assistant commandant for intelligence, told a House subcommittee that recent legislation and Force Design 2028 have accelerated the service’s adoption of unmanned and autonomous systems and that the service is updating organization and procurement plans to match that momentum.
“The key part is the support we’ve gotten with the reconciliation funds,” Barata said, describing a funding package the service has set aside for unmanned systems. He said roughly $350 million from reconciliation was identified for related efforts, with about $266 million for long‑range unmanned aircraft systems and $75 million for surface unmanned systems. Barata told the committee the Coast Guard has used about $11 million so far on unit‑level remote vehicles, small UAS and ground robots and expects to execute the larger procurements in the next six to 12 months.
Barata…
Already have an account? Log in
Subscribe to keep reading
Unlock the rest of this article — and every article on Citizen Portal.
- Unlimited articles
- AI-powered breakdowns of topics, speakers, decisions, and budgets
- Instant alerts when your location has a new meeting
- Follow topics and more locations
- 1,000 AI Insights / month, plus AI Chat
