Marine Corps Combat Logistics Battalions in Japan and the United States have been employing logistics supply drones inspired by drug-smuggling narco subs in recent exercises and tests.
The Autonomous Low-Profile Vessel, also known as Ledios’ Sea Specter, is an unmanned surface vessel designed to carry up to five tons of supplies out to distances of 2,000 nautical miles. Its unique semi-submersible and low-to-the-water design mirrors similar cartel vessels, a design philosophy that the Marine Corps eyed in its search to contend with contested logistics against peer adversaries.
Since January, three Marine logistics units have been deploying the Autonomous Low-Profile Vessel in a series of tests and activities. Two units, the Combat Logistics Battalion 31 and the 12th Littoral Logistics Battalion, are based in Okinawa along the first island chain. At least one of the unmanned surface vessels was delivered to Okinawa last winter. Combat Logistics Battalion 8, a Camp Lejeune-based formation, also conducted tests earlier this month.
“The prototypes we’ve delivered will help create new disruptive logistics capabilities for the Marine Corps. Its low profile and long range are intended to help the vessels achieve a higher mission success rate supporting dispersed Marine fire units than conventional methods,” Dave Lewis, Leidos senior vice president, Sea Systems Business Area, said in a press release on Autonomous Low-Profile Vessel’s participation at the Army-led Project Convergence Capstone 4 exercise last year.
These low profile unmanned surface vessels were primarily designed to be a key supplier of the service’s Navy-Marine Expeditionary Ship Interdiction Systems, an unmanned anti-ship missile launcher that employs two Naval Strike Missiles. An Autonomous Low-Profile Vessel can carry two missiles, enough for a full reload of NMESIS.
Conventional aerial and maritime resupply could be challenging in the remote littoral environments that the Marines plan to deploy to in the event of a conflict with China in the Indo-Pacific region. Moreover, the envisioned forward-deployed forces, such as Marine Littoral Regiments, would be within the reach of numerous air and missile threats, further complicating supply chains. The 12th Marine Littoral Regiment claimed that the semi-submersible drone boats were “crucial for providing sustainment for stand-in forces.”
“The ALPV enhances our ability to remain agile and keep our Marines in the fight, even when access to conventional supply lines is limited,” said Sgt. Michael Speis, a logistics specialist with 12th Littoral Logistics Battalion, in a press release.
