Meet the Drone Boat That Just Made Military History

On Monday evening, a U.S. Army AH-64 Apache helicopter went down near the Strait of Hormuz off the coast of Oman. Thomas Novelly of Defense One reports that a Saronic Corsair autonomous surface vessel located and recovered the two downed aviators, marking the U.S. military’s first publicized use of an unmanned boat to rescue downed aircrew in real-world warfare. (See “In apparent first, Navy drone boat rescues helicopter crew downed at sea”).

The 24-foot Corsair is part of Task Force 59, the Navy’s Bahrain-based unit integrating AI and unmanned systems into 5th Fleet operations. 

Questions around the crash

As for what brought the Apache down, President Trump claims Iran shot it down and said the U.S. must respond, but the cause remains under official investigation. 

The U.S. has now lost at least seven crewed aircraft since operations against Iran began in February.

There are also unresolved questions about the Apache fleet itself, with the Army separately investigating a transmission problem on some AH-64E models that can cause loss of tail rotor control. 

Bottom Line

In any case, the rescue, whatever its circumstances, is a proof of concept years in the making for autonomous systems in the region.