EXCLUSIVE: SOUTHCOM chief seeks unmanned river solution as he embraces autonomy

WASHINGTON — The top officer for US Southern Command is in the market for new, bespoke unmanned and autonomous maritime systems for the counter-drug fight, he told Breaking Defense in an exclusive interview.

Gen. Francis Donovan, who took over SOUTHCOM in February of this year, said that among other capabilities, he’s interested in a “unique river reconnaissance system, representing a tailorable mix of unmanned surface, air and sub surface autonomous platforms.”

The idea is for an autonomous vessel to sail through South American and Central American rivers for reconnaissance missions and to collect data.

“We want to understand how criminal networks use rivers [to transport narcotics] and how they use the foliage to hide the sites where narco vessels are assembled,” the general said during an interview on Oct. 13. In other words, SOUTHCOM wants “systems uniquely tailored to our environment.”

Donovan made the comments just months after the command stood up its SOUTHCOM Autonomous Warfare Command (SAWC), which is officially “dedicated to employing autonomous, semi-autonomous, and unmanned platforms and systems to counter threats and challenges across domains, linking tactical missions to long-term strategic effects.”

Donovan described SAWC as the place for not only SOUTHCOM but other US and allied forces to train and experiment with unmanned tech, including using an in-theater facility based in Guantanamo Bay, Cuba. Other federal agencies and industry are also invited to bring their latest wares.

“We want to partner with anyone to test platforms in our Area of Responsibility,” he said. “We are open for business.”

But, he said, testing and training is not the end goal — operations are.

“We will test and operate these systems in proximity with hemispheric threats,” he said. Autonomous systems “will be used to take the fight to the enemy. They are not just for testing anymore.”

For instance, Donovan said Saronic-made Corsair USVs have been moved to Guantanamo, but the vessels have now also been deployed on either side of the Panama Canal.

There, the unmanned ships are “assisting local forces in narco-terrorist operations and [supporting] the physical security of the [Panama] Canal,” he said.

SOUTHCOM’s Autonomous Warfare Command was established months before Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth announced plans for a new 4-star Autonomous Warfare Command, or AUTOWARCOM, in September. In a follow-up email, a SOUTHCOM spokesperson told Breaking Defense that SAWC is “collaborating closely” with the Pentagon to integrate autonomous platforms and AI.

SAWC is also expanding, the spokesperson said, and has “attracted personnel” from different services including “USAF Pararescue (PJs), U.S. Navy SEALs and Riverine Surface Warfare personnel, U.S. Army Green Berets, USMC Ground Intelligence and Information Warfare Specialists, Maritime ISR Officers,” among others.

SOUTHCOM In The Spotlight

While combating narco-terrorism is not a new mission for US Southern Command, the Trump administration has placed significant emphasis on the mission. SOUTHCOM is leading Joint Task Force Western Hemisphere (which replaced Operation Southern Spear), the controversial effort to stem the flow of drugs from South America to the US, including through lethal strikes and joint ground operations.

Still, Donovan said that like any other command, he has to compete for joint resources – which makes the use of unmanned platforms that much more attractive.

For example, Donovan said that SOUTHCOM doesn’t necessarily need a destroyer to linger at sea for a long period of time and can instead use a “cheap platform” for some operations. Then they can bring in the destroyer “for a very specific mission, thereby reducing stress on the joint force.”

SOUTHCOM is also employing aerial unmanned systems, including MQ-9 systems. Donovan declined to comment on the reported shift of airframes from US Africa Command to US Southern Command, but he generally highlighted the importance of data those kinds of systems collect.

“The critical issue is data, which can help us increase domain awareness,” Donovan explained, adding that US partners in the Americas also “need assistance with domain awareness at sea, land and air.” Said data can also help US assets carry out an interdiction or military operations.

Overall, Donovan said the ultimate goal of SAWC is to accelerate autonomous warfare across the Command’s AOR “for us to carry out our missions and to assist our partners,” in areas like domain awareness.