March 1, 2025

By: Brandon J. Weichert

The company has created a real automated sub-hunter. And this couldn’t have come a moment too soon.

The quest for drone supremacy continues as the usefulness for drones is expanding into the maritime domain. According to General Atomics Aeronautical, a defense firm specializing in drone technology development, they have successfully tested the MQ-9B SeaGuardian. This system is designed exclusively for submarine hunting from the air.

General Atomics’ official website describes the SeaGuardian as possessing “anti-submarine sensors using multiple pre-production Sonobuoy Dispensing System (SDS) pods.”

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The website continues by saying that the MQ-9B SeaGuardian have “already proven its ability to track submerged targets, SeaGuardian took this capability further with [General Atomics’] news designed SDS pods.” In fact, “These pods deployed multiple sonobuoys to conduct onboard thermal-depth and acoustic data processing.”

In its conclusion, the firm assessed that the “SeaGuardian effectively detected, tracked, and analyzed underwater targets while collecting critical acoustic intelligence.”

The SeaGuardian is a Real Killer

Thus, a real automated sub-hunter—and killer—was born. And this couldn’t have come a moment too soon, as the Russian Federation’s submarine threat plagues NATO forces and China’s submarine threat increases daily.

Indeed, because of the defense industrial weaknesses of the West, when compared either to China or even Russia, having enough submarines to counter the threats posed by both Russia’s and China’s submersibles is not an option.

The Future is Now

But, as Elon Musk and other tech titans in the West have long argued, unmanned systems are the face of future warfare. That future is now, as the Ukraine War and even the Global War on Terror (GWoT), with its heavy reliance on drones for targeted strikes and constant surveillance, has proven.

Global Atomics offers a truly revolutionary technology with their SeaGuardian, which serves as a key force multiplier for a United States Navy whose power projection capabilities, notably in the Indo-Pacific, are more constrained against China than they have ever been.

The Specs & Geopolitics of the SeaGuardian

The SeaGuardian has a maximum takeoff weight of 12,500 pounds and a fuel capacity of 6,000 pounds. A Honeywell TPE331-10 Turboprop engine powers the MQ-9B, giving it the ability to fly as high as 40,000 feet. It comes with more than 30 hours of endurance and a range of 5,753 miles.

General Atomics has received orders for this new drone from Japan, India, and Greece, according to Giulia Bernacchi of The Defence Post, a defense industry publication. These are three countries with their own unique set of submarine challenges.

Japan and India are having to contend with Chinese submarines increasingly threatening them, while Japan must also handle the occasional Russian submarine that meanders into their territorial waters (Russia and Japan have shared a territorial dispute over the Kuril Islands going back to the end of the Second World War). Greece, on the other hand, must deal with the increasing threat of fellow NATO member and neighbor Turkey (Türkiye), with whom Athens has had multiple clashes over the years.

The world must prepare for the age when manned platforms are simply too vulnerable (and expensive) to risk in combat as we enter the frightening age of autonomous systems.

About the Author: Brandon J. Weichert

Brandon J. Weichert, a Senior National Security Editor at The National Interest as well as a Senior Fellow at the Center for the National Interest, and a contributor at Popular Mechanics, consults regularly with various government institutions and private organizations on geopolitical issues. Weichert’s writings have appeared in multiple publications, including the Washington Times, National Review, The American Spectator, MSN, the Asia Times, and countless others. His books include Winning Space: How America Remains a Superpower, Biohacked: China’s Race to Control Life, and The Shadow War: Iran’s Quest for Supremacy. His newest book, A Disaster of Our Own Making: How the West Lost Ukraine is available for purchase wherever books are sold. He can be followed via Twitter @WeTheBrandon.Image: Wikimedia Commons.