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MOREThe Bluebottle unmanned surface vessel (USV) is at the forefront of Australian maritime security operations. The Australian Martime Border Command uses it to solve the fundamental problem of having insufficient assets and manpower to monitor Australia's vast maritime areas. Operational missions include Illegal Fishing, Border Security, and Marine Protected Area Surveillance. The Royal Australian Navy has recently acquired a small fleet of Bluebottle USVs for anti-submarine warfare and underwater surveillance missions. The Bluebottle USV has been successfully integrated as the platform for ThayerMahan's Outpost passive acoustic surveillance sonar system, and its performance was successfully demonstrated in San Diego. This creates a cost-effective way to rapidly field groups of unmanned surveillance platforms that can augment exquisite surveillance assets, monitor vast maritime areas for maritime security and undersea warfare, and support the AUKUS partnership.
Vice Admiral Mike Connor, former commander of U.S. submarine forces, said Trump’s statement may have sounded bold, but was in fact consistent with long-standing doctrine.
"He didn’t really give away too much," Connor, who now serves as CEO of maritime tech company ThayerMahan, told Fox News Digital. "It’s generally understood, by our potential adversaries, that our submarines are out there, have been out there for 60-plus years, and are able to strike pretty much where they want, when they want, if needed."
"It’s a more gentle message done this way," Connor added. "It’s not really in your face. It’s just a reminder of what already exists."
Connor also pointed to a recent case that underscored the low-profile potency of submarines.
"A few weeks ago, there was a strike on Iranian nuclear weapon component manufacturing sites," he said. "There was a lot of noise about the fact that some Air Force planes flew from the U.S. and struck two deeply buried targets. And it was more or less a side note that a submarine — who knows which one or where it was —struck 30 targets at the same time."
"It’s a capability that’s always there, not often used and doesn’t need to be talked about too overtly to be effective."
Connor agreed that the oceans will remain a chessboard of silent signaling.
"Both countries have the freedom to operate as they would like in international waters," he said. "They’ve done that for decades and will likely continue to do so."
