Iran war drives urgent need  to counter underwater attack drones

Summary

The UK and US are looking for technology to counter the threat posed by underwater drones to ships, harbors and other critical maritime infrastructure, and are asking industry for answers. News of the AUV tender comes against the backdrop of the US deploying uncrewed drone boats around Iran as the conflict heats up. Iran is believed to be behind at least two explosive-laden sea drone attacks on oil tankers in the Gulf since the US and Israel first attacked Iran on February 28. The first drone attack reportedly took place on March 1, about 44 nautical miles off ​Oman, and the second, on March 5, hit a Bahamas-flagged crude oil tanker near the Iraqi port of Khor Al Zubair. Iran is known to possess – and use – autonomous underwater vehicles in conflicts dating back two years. Specifically, Iran was spotted shipping torpedo-like drones and "one-way attack" underwater drones to Houthi rebels in Yemen in 2024. These are small but experts suspect they can inflict "significant damage on ships." According to the Ministry of Defence (MoD), the US Defense Innovation Unit (DIU) has kicked off a competition that allows companies of all sizes to pitch technology directly to them, under a program called REEF (Robotic Exclusion and Engagement Framework). This is a bilateral scheme operated jointly by the US and UK. American and British teams will assess submissions with the aim of identifying potential defense solutions for both parties. British companies can apply, with solutions assessed by jHub, the innovation team of the MoD's Cyber & Specialist Operations Command, for potential UK defense use. While the Iran war isn't specifically mentioned, the reason behind this call for solutions is the general threat posed by drones, specifically uncrewed underwater vehicles (UUVs), which are the subsea equivalent of airborne attack drones. Ukraine is also instrumental in showing the potential danger from these weapons. Last year, the country's armed forces claimed they struck and disabled...