TRANSPORTATION RESEARCH BOARD
SPECIAL REPORT 335
Leveraging Unmanned Systems
for Coast Guard Missions
A Strategic Imperative
Committee on Coast Guard Maritime Domain Awareness
A Consensus Study Report of
THE NATIONAL ACADEMIES PRESS
Washington, DC
www.nap.edu
Transportation Research Board Special Report 335
Subscriber Categories: Marine transportation; policy
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Copyright 2020 by the National Academy of Sciences. All rights reserved.
Printed in the United States of America
This publication was reviewed by a group other than the authors according to the procedures approved by a Report Review Committee consisting of members of the National Academy of Sciences, the National Academy of Engineering, and the National Academy of Medicine.
This study was sponsored by the U.S. Coast Guard.
International Standard Book Number-13: 978-0-309-68521-4
International Standard Book Number-10: 0-309-68521-4
Digital Object Identifier: https://doi.org/10.17226/25987
Library of Congress Control Number: 2020949986
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COMMITTEE ON COAST GUARD MARITIME DOMAIN AWARENESS
Heidi C. Perry, MIT Lincoln Laboratory, Lexington, Massachusetts, Chair
RADM Thomas J. Eccles (NAE) (U.S. Navy, retired), Trident Maritime Systems, Arlington, Virginia
Jaye Falls, U.S. Naval Academy, Annapolis, Maryland
Barry M. Horowitz (NAE), University of Virginia, Charlottesville
Lauren J. Kessler, Draper Laboratory, Cambridge, Massachusetts
Annette J. Krygiel, Independent Consultant, Great Falls, Virginia
VADM Fred M. Midgette (U.S. Coast Guard, retired), Westlake, Ohio
CDR Matthew Pickett (National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, retired), Oceans Unmanned, Santa Barbara, California
Sean T. Pribyl, Gard AS, Arendal, Norway
Charles E. Thorpe, Clarkson University, Potsdam, New York
Transportation Research Board Staff
Monica A. Starnes, Study Director, Consensus and Advisory Studies
Thomas R. Menzies, Jr., Director, Consensus and Advisory Studies
Anusha Jayasinghe, Associate Program Officer, Consensus and Advisory Studies
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Preface
Section 812 of the Frank LoBiondo Coast Guard Authorization Act of 2018 calls on the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine (the National Academies) to “prepare an assessment of available unmanned, autonomous, or remotely controlled maritime domain awareness technologies for use by the U.S. Coast Guard.” The full legislative request for the study is provided in Appendix A.
To conduct the study, which was undertaken under the auspices of the Transportation Research Board (TRB) and its Marine Board, the National Academies appointed a committee of 10 experts in the fields of automation and control; systems research, acquisitions, and integration; Coast Guard operations and mission support; naval engineering and architecture, cybersecurity, field applications of unmanned systems; and relevant legal, regulatory, and policy issues. This report represents the consensus efforts of these 10 individuals, who served uncompensated in the public interest. Their biographical information is provided in Appendix B.
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
The committee met six times from September 2019 to June 2020 to gather information relevant to the study and to deliberate on the report contents, findings, and recommendations. Four of the meetings included briefings and discussions with experts from industry, academia, and numerous government agencies on existing and planned uses of unmanned systems, operational issues, cybersecurity and mission support requirements, and requisite institutional and organizational structures.
The committee wishes to thank the following individuals for participating in these briefings and making other contributions to the committee’s work.
From the U.S. Coast Guard: LCDR Steven Arnwine, Operations Officer, USCGC Munro; Eric Downes, Deputy Chief Information Officer for Intelligence; CDR Maria Richardson, UAS Joint Program Office Supervisor; RADM Matthew Sibley, Assistant Commandant for Capability; CDR Chad Thompson, Chief, Unmanned Aircraft Systems; and CDR Sara Wallace, Deputy, Office of Requirements and Analysis. The committee also wishes to thank Scott Craig, who served as the principal contact between the Coast Guard and the committee and coordinated information requests from the committee to offices within the Coast Guard, and William Carter, who provided valuable information regarding the Coast Guard response operations for oil spills of national significance.
From the U.S. Department of Homeland Security: Timothy Bennett, Science and Technology Directorate, and Joseph Wawro, Joint Requirements Council.
From the U.S. Navy: Donald McCormack, Naval Surface Warfare Center and Naval Undersea Warfare Center; Anthony Schmidt, Naval Air Warfare Center; CAPT Pete Small, Navy Unmanned Maritime Systems Program Office; and Jason Stack, Office of Naval Research.
From other federal agencies: Francisco Castillo and Michael Romanowski, Federal Aviation Administration; RADM Tim Gallaudet, National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration; Michael Ilmanen and Scott Millerand, Federal Bureau of Investigation; Bradley Koeckeritz, U.S. Department of the Interior; and John Sherman, Director of National Intelligence.
From academia, research institutions, and industry: Peter Beling, University of Virginia; James Bellingham and Glen Gawarkiewicz, Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution; Joseph Bondaryk, Apollo Autonomy; Steve Brodet, Hydroid; VADM Michael Connor, ThayerMahan Inc.; Francesca D’Arcangelo, MIT Lincoln Laboratory; Donald Siebers and Namrata Kolla, Vulcan Inc.; and Michael Smitsky, Association for Unmanned Vehicle Systems International.
Monica A. Starnes directed the study and assisted the study committee in the preparation of this report under the guidance of Thomas R. Menzies Jr. Anusha Jayasinghe provided support to the committee in arranging meetings.
This report was reviewed in draft form by individuals chosen for their diverse perspectives and technical expertise. The purpose of this independent review is to provide candid and critical comments that will assist the National Academies in making each published report as sound as possible and to ensure that it meets the institutional standards for quality,
objectivity, evidence, and responsiveness to the study charge. The review comments and draft manuscript remain confidential to protect the integrity of the deliberative process.
The National Academies thanks the following individuals for their review of this report: Craig Allen, University of Washington School of Law, Seattle, Washington; Michael Connor, ThayerMahan, Inc., Groton, Connecticut; Mary Landry, U.S. Coast Guard (retired), Boston, Massachusetts; Thomas McNamara, Raytheon Missiles & Defense, Tewksbury, Massachusetts; John Montgomery, Center for Naval Analysis, Granite Falls, North Carolina; Alan Weigel, Blank Rome LLP, Lisbon, Connecticut; and Steven Wiker, ErgoTek, Inc., Nine Mile Falls, Washington.
Although these reviewers provided many constructive comments and suggestions, they were not asked to endorse the committee’s conclusions and recommendations, nor did they see the final version of the report before its release. The review of the report was overseen by National Academy of Engineering members Chris T. Hendrickson, Carnegie Mellon University, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, and Chris G. Whipple, Consultant, Lafayette, California. Appointed by the National Academies, they were responsible for making certain that an independent review of the report was conducted in accordance with institutional procedures and that all review comments were carefully considered by the committee. Responsibility for the final content of the report rests solely with the authoring committee and the institution. Karen Febey, Senior Report Review Officer, TRB, managed the report review process.
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Acronyms and Abbreviations
AECA | Arms Export Control Act |
AEGIS | Advanced, Efficient and Green Intermodal Systems |
AIS | Automatic Identification System |
ASR | air search radar |
ATON | Aids to Navigation |
AUTOSHIP | Autonomous Shipping Initiative for European Waters |
AUV | autonomous underwater vehicle |
AUVSI | Association of Unmanned Vehicle Systems International |
BSEE | Bureau of Safety and Environmental Enforcement |
C4&IT | Command, Control, Communications, Computers, and Information Technology |
CBP | U.S. Customs and Border Protection |
CG | Coast Guard |
CMI | Comité Maritime International |
COA | Certificate of Waiver or Authorization |
CONOPS | concept of operations |
CRADA | Cooperative Research and Development Agreement |
CRREL | Cold Regions Research and Engineering Laboratory |
cUAS | Counter-Unmanned Air System |
cUUV | Counter-Unmanned Underwater Vehicle |
DARPA | Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency |
DASN (UxS) | Deputy Assistant Secretary of the Navy for Unmanned Systems |
DCMS | Deputy Commandant for Mission Support |
DCO | Deputy Commandant for Operations |
DHS | U.S. Department of Homeland Security |
DOD | U.S. Department of Defense |
DOI | U.S. Department of the Interior |
DOJ | U.S. Department of Justice |
DOL | Director of Operations Logistics |
EEZ | Exclusive Economic Zone |
EPA | U.S. Environmental Protection Agency |
FAA | Federal Aviation Administration |
FAR | Federal Acquisition Regulation |
FBI | Federal Bureau of Investigation |
FORCECOM | Force Readiness Command |
FY | Fiscal Year |
GPS | global positioning system |
HQ | Headquarters |
ICAO | International Civil Aviation Organization |
ICE | U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement |
IMO | International Maritime Organization |
IOC | Interagency Operations Center |
ISO | International Organization for Standardization |
ISR | Intelligence, Surveillance, and Reconnaissance |
ITAR | International Traffic in Arms Regulations |
IWG | International Working Group |
JIATF-S | Joint Interagency Task Force South |
LIDAR | Light Detection and Ranging |
LR | Lloyd’s Register |
MARAD | Maritime Administration |
MASS | Maritime Autonomous Surface Ship |
MDA | maritime domain awareness |
MER | Marine Environmental Response |
MOTR | Maritime Operational Threat Response |
MSC | Maritime Safety Committee |
MSRO | Maritime Security and Response Operations |
MTS | Marine Transportation System |
MUST | Maritime Unmanned System Technology |
NAS | National Airspace System |
NAVSAC | Navigation and Safety Advisory Council |
NAVSEA | Naval Sea Systems Command |
NCC | National Command Center |
NIST | National Institute of Standards and Technology |
NOAA | National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration |
NSC | National Security Cutter |
OAS | Office of Aviation Services |
OSD | Office of the Secretary of Defense |
OTA | Other Transaction Authority |
PAO | public aircraft operations |
PATFORSWA | Patrol Forces Southwest Asia |
PC&I | procurement, construction, and improvements |
PWCS | Port, Waterways and Coastal Security |
R&D | research and development |
RAM | reliability, availability, and maintainability |
RDC | Research and Development Center |
RDT&E | Research, Development, Test, and Evaluation |
RF | radio frequency |
ROS2 | next generation Robot Operating Systems |
ROV | remotely operated vehicle |
RSE | Regulatory Scoping Exercise |
S&T | Science and Technology |
SAR | Search and Rescue |
SAROPS | Search and Rescue Optimal Planning System |
SIGINT | Tactical Signals Intelligence |
sUAS | small unmanned aerial system |
SVIP | Silicon Valley Innovation Program |
TRB | Transportation Research Board |
UAS | Unmanned Aerial (or Aircraft) System |
UAV | unmanned aerial vehicle |
UMS | Unmanned System (as per NIST) |
UMV | Unmanned Maritime Vessel (or Vehicle) |
UNCLOS | United Nations Convention for the Law of the Sea |
USAF | U.S. Air Force |
USN | U.S. Navy |
USV | unmanned surface vessel (or unmanned surface vehicle) |
UUV | unmanned underwater vehicle (or unmanned undersea vehicle) |
UxS | unmanned system |
UxV | unmanned vehicle |
VHF | very high frequency |
ViDAR | video detection and ranging |
VLOS | visual line-of-sight |
VTOL | Vertical Takeoff and Landing |