 Hi, I'm Vice Admiral Brad Cooper and I am joined by strategist and author Peter Singer to share our thoughts on how unmanned systems and artificial intelligence show promise for security today and in the future. As America moves towards its 250th anniversary, the world is changing from the rise of new technologies unimaginable back in 1776 to trends and changes in the global operating environment unimaginable just a few years ago. And yet, while there is much unpredictable about this future, there is one certainty. The free flow of global trade be central to American security. As a maritime nation, the United States peace and prosperity have always depended on the seas, and there is little to expect that to change. As America's Navy also sails closer to its own 250th anniversary, we must consider how our security role will evolve. In all likelihood, it will be a hybrid of the past and the future. Sailors carrying forward our best traditions and lessons will team with the new generation of unmanned and even autonomous systems. And not so ironically, many key lessons being learned about what is possible are coming from operations in the Middle East, one of the first regions the U.S. Navy deployed to in order to secure the nation's commerce. Naval history is replete with examples of technologies evolving into significant new capabilities often on a rapid scale. For example, tests with USS Holland led the Navy to commit to a modern submarine fleet not even a year later, while in turn, naval aviator number one, Lieutenant Theodore Gordon Ellison, participated in experiments to launch and recover aircraft from the USS Pennsylvania literally weeks after first training to fly the then new technology of the airplane. In turn, these tests have often proved insightful and determinative for fights in geographic locales far different from where the experiments first took place. For instance, much of the doctrine behind the amphibious landings that would later take place on Pacific autos in Normandy beaches actually were surfaced during the 1930s fleet landing exercises in the Caribbean. Today, the Navy has similar opportunities to rapidly integrate unmanned systems and artificial intelligence. U.S. Fifth Fleet in the Middle East established Task Force 59 in 2021. This new effort brought in advanced systems into an overseas operating environment both to assess the technologies and the concepts for using them. Speed matters and we are learning at a rapid pace. One recent example, Task Force 59 brought together 80 unmanned systems from 10 different countries. They placed different items in the water that sensors from unmanned vessels were able to locate, identify and visually depict in command centers. Then, without human intervention, artificial intelligence processed the data to determine what warranted a closer look by human operators. The Task Force learned that we can drastically improve maritime domain awareness. Importantly, unmanned systems and AI-enabled technologies that prove resilient in the Middle East are also likely scalable across the other numbered fleets. For example, Task Force 59 systems have already demonstrated the ability to provide around the clock vigilance and detection capabilities continuously for months in the Red Sea, Arabian Gulf and other areas. The unmanned platforms didn't stop for maintenance, refueling or resupply. It's easy to see how insights gained from deploying unmanned service vessels in one region might prove determinative in another. The system's Task Force 59 has evaluated to date, have already demonstrated an ability to communicate threats quickly and expand how far out our forces can see. What can be achieved as we multiply this out with our allies is absolutely stunning. We can build on the assets we already have and create an interconnected mesh of sensors and real-time data, fused together with artificial intelligence to build a clearer picture of the surrounding seas. In sum, what we are now learning is that the future of AI and unmanned systems at sea doesn't mean the end of the man fleet, but rather greater capability for it. In fact, we believe that harnessing these new technologies alongside our current ships will allow us to rapidly improve maritime threat detection and achieve safer seas. This means stronger protection of global trade and a more prosperous future for all.