Participants at the Middle East Naval Commanders Conference (MENC) held on the sidelines of the Doha International Maritime and Defence Exhibition and Conference 2022 (DIMDEX) have noted the importance of bilateral and multilateral partnerships among countries to ensure the oceans are protected from threats.
While discussing ‘Resilience in the maritime Domain – Confronting Asymmetric Threats,’ senior military officers and academia highlighted the rapid growth of technology, and artificial intelligence (AI) in modern military operations and the gradual shift towards unmanned technological revolution.
Vice-Admiral Brad Cooper, Commander, US Naval Forces Central Command/5thFleet, said multilateral partnerships, especially in a vast and strategic region like the Middle East and the Gulf, would ensure the security of commerce and people. He also noted that Qatar, as a Major non-NATO ally (MNNA), would play a crucial role in deploying technologies alongside the US and other partners to ensure the region’s security.
“Oceans have long served as parts to new frontiers and opportunities, and they remain so today. This region has three strategic points, the Suez Canal, the Gulf of Aden and the Strait of Hormuz. Challenges to commercial vessels’ security and stability and other threats can significantly impact global commerce. This is why resilience in the maritime domain matters greatly,” Vice-Admiral Cooper said.
“There’s great potential in strengthening maritime security deterrence and enhancing maritime resilience by addressing regional challenges in a coordinated multinational way. Hence, we have announced our vision to create the world’s newest unmanned ship with our international partners. The goal is to have 100 unmanned surface vessels patrolling regional waters by the summer of next year.
“We need the support of our regional partners to achieve this, and given Qatar’s role as a Major non-NATO ally and enduring security partner, I look forward to exploring options for partnering in unmanned systems integration in the future. We can all agree we are on the cusp of an unmanned technological revolution. Military technology is rapidly changing, and this can rapidly improve threat detection, strengthen regional deterrence and enhance maritime resilience,” he added.
Brigadier General Pilot Fahad Hamad Al Sulaiti, Acting Director of the Directorate of Research and Studies at the Center for Strategic Studies of the Armed Forces, underlined the significance of artificial intelligence (AI) to military operations.
In his presentation, he said artificial intelligence had provided non-human elements in performing several research and development tasks, which is vital to making data-based decisions, avoiding accidents, ensuring safety, predicting the weather, and detecting problems before they occur.
Brig. Gen Al Sulaiti also noted the modern Norwegian-made unmanned vessel ‘Yara’, which recorded its maiden trip last year. Highlighting the transformative force of AI, he said that the ship (Yara) is the world’s first fully emission-free container ship.
In another presentation, Vice-Admiral Ajendra Bahadur Singh, Commander in Chief Western Naval Command, Indian Navy, discussed the need to harvest collaboration towards resilience in the maritime domain and harness the tools of technology to solve growing challenges. According to Vice-Admiral Singh, the strategic partnership of nations need to band together to protect the Indian Ocean and the maritime sector in general from asymmetric threats and challenges, including piracy, armed robbery, maritime security, illegal and unreported fishing and maritime terrorism.
