The U.S. Coast Guard is racing to keep pace with the maritime industry’s technological revolution, as autonomous ships, drones, and cyber threats reshape the seascape. On Tuesday, the House Coast Guard and Maritime Transportation Subcommittee convened a hearing, “Changes in Maritime Technology: Can the Coast Guard Keep Up?” to scrutinise the service’s progress in regulating and adopting these advancements.
Chairman Mike Ezell (R-MS) set the stage, highlighting the urgency of developing a regulatory framework for emerging technologies. “Last February, in our hearing on ‘America Builds: Maritime Infrastructure,’ we noted the need for the United States Coast Guard to rapidly develop a regulatory framework to enable these technologies to operate safely,” Ezell said. “We are here today to discuss both the Coast Guard’s efforts to regulate an industry incorporating these technologies, as well as its own use of these advanced maritime technologies.”
The Coast Guard is making strides, but the challenge is monumental. Rear Admiral David C. Barata, Deputy Commandant for Operations Policy and Assistant Commandant for Intelligence, detailed the service’s efforts to integrate robotics and autonomous systems. “As part of Force Design 2028, on July 1, 2025, the Coast Guard established the Robotics and Autonomous Systems (RAS) Program Executive Office (PEO). The RAS PEO consolidated multiple offices into one cohesive program dedicated to the acquisition and integration of autonomous capabilities across all Coast Guard missions and domains,” Barata said. The RAS PEO aims to expedite the implementation of the Coast Guard’s Unmanned Systems Strategic Plan, a roadmap for embracing autonomy.
Funding is flowing in to support these initiatives. The One Big Beautiful Bill Act allocated $266 million for procuring long-range unmanned aerial systems (UAS) and $75 million for acquiring autonomous maritime systems. The Coast Guard is evaluating various long-range UAS solutions to meet its mission requirements, Barata said. However, the service is also grappling with the cybersecurity risks posed by autonomous and remote-controlled vessels. Rear Admiral Jason P. Tama, Commander of Coast Guard Cyber Command, noted that these systems rely on advanced computing and communication technology, creating potential vulnerabilities.
“The Coast Guard is working with industry and government partners to oversee the safe deployment and use of autonomous and remote-controlled maritime technology,” Tama said. “As new commercial autonomous vessels increase in size, complexity, and quantity, and more frequently share the waterways with one another, conventional vessels, and other waterway users, the technology will likely increase safety risk to the marine transportation system.”
The regulatory framework is another hurdle. Andrew Von Ah, Director of Physical Infrastructure at the Government Accountability Office, pointed out that the Coast Guard’s current regulations were designed with crewed vessels in mind. “Nevertheless, the Coast Guard is working within these existing authorities, some of which are decades-old, to safely integrate autonomous and remote-controlled technologies into the maritime domain,” Von Ah said. Local Captains of the Port are handling requests for autonomous ship operations on a case-by-case basis, but industry stakeholders have raised concerns about consistency across ports.
Heidi C. Perry, Chair of the Report on Leveraging Unmanned Systems for Coast Guard Missions at the National Academies of Sciences, highlighted the potential of emerging technologies to enhance the Coast Guard’s capabilities. “Advances in Intelligence, Surveillance, and Reconnaissance (ISR) capabilities will reap the benefits of a number of breakthroughs in enabling technical capability,” Perry said. Proliferated satellite constellations, advanced sensors, and generative AI could revolutionise maritime surveillance and situational awareness, she noted.
The hearing underscored the Coast Guard’s dual challenge: regulating the maritime industry’s technological evolution while adopting those same advancements to fulfil its missions. The service is making progress, but the pace of change in the maritime sector shows no signs of slowing. As Ezell noted, the Coast Guard must keep up—or risk falling behind.