El Comandante de la 5ta Flota de EUA, ha expresado su preocupaci\u00f3n por el extraordinario crecimiento en los \u00faltimos a\u00f1os, del empleo de drones de ataque (UCAS), por parte de Ir\u00e1n. Ese crecimiento se\u00a0 observa en t\u00e9rminos de\u00a0 capacidades disponibles, perfiles de amenaza y densidad de los ataques. \u201cLas acciones son cada vez m\u00e1s frecuentes y agresivas\u201d, expres\u00f3. El ataque del 29Jul21 a un Buque Tanque \u00a0petrolero israel\u00ed en el Golfo de Om\u00e1n, fue realizado con 3 UCAS, uno de los cuales alcanz\u00f3 el objetivo provocando 2 muertos entre la tripulaci\u00f3n. EUA e Israel han puesto su \u201cfoco\u201d en la eliminaci\u00f3n de la infraestructura de fabricaci\u00f3n de UAV Iran\u00ed.<\/p>\n
WASHINGTON: Over the past few years,\u00a0Iran<\/a>\u00a0has \u201csignificantly\u201d increased its use of unmanned aerial vehicles, the US Navy\u2019s 5th Fleet Commander said today.<\/p>\n Vice Adm. Brad Cooper<\/a>\u00a0said that\u00a0unsafe naval encounters<\/a>\u00a0with the Iranian military remain relatively flat, but, \u201cwhat is different, though, is a dramatic uptick in the UAV activity in the region, both in terms of their capability, their profiles and the density of activity.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cIt is significantly different,\u201d he said during an event hosted by the Center for Strategic and International Studies and the US Naval Institute.<\/p>\n One recent example, Cooper said, was\u00a0the attack<\/a>\u00a0on the Israeli merchant vessel Mercer Street in July, where an Iranian-made kamikaze drone struck the ship by flying into it, resulting in the deaths of two people.<\/p>\n In November, Breaking Defense\u00a0reported<\/a>\u00a0that in response to the escalating drone use by Iran, the US and Israel have stepped up operations against Iran\u2019s drone industry.<\/p>\n \u201cThis is not a new front, but now the actions will be more frequent and more aggressive,\u201d an Israeli defense source told Breaking Defense then, shortly after Israel launched a military strike in Syria to destroy what the source described as delivery of drone and air defense systems.<\/p>\n On the US side, Cooper said today the US 5th Fleet has also ramped up its own use of maritime drones, unmanned surface vessels and unmanned underwater vehicles over the past several months,\u00a0standing up Task Force 59<\/a>\u00a0in September to help speed up its integration of\u00a0unmanned tech<\/a>.<\/p>\n So far, the task force has focused on integrating its existing aerial drones with new off-the-shelf USVs owned and operated by industry,\u00a0he\u00a0said.<\/p>\n In September, the task force established a hub in Bahrain that has been operating\u00a0MARTAC\u2019s Mantas T12 USV<\/a>. In November, it\u00a0announced<\/a>\u00a0the creation of a second hub in Jordan focused on operating the Saildrone USV.<\/p>\n \u201cThe pace that we\u2019ve been able to move at is going to result in, I imagine, us validating about 14 different [concepts of operation] \u2014 unimaginable a few months ago \u2014 and then shifting into a more operational mode in the future,\u201d Cooper said.<\/p>\n \u201cThe drones that we have operating at Aqaba, [Jordan,] have been at sea for 33 straight days,\u201d he said. \u201cThey\u2019re really redefining what persistence means in the maritime environment.\u201d<\/p>\n