A US Navy drone boat rescued two Apache helicopter crew members downed near the Strait of Hormuz, marking the first known US use of an unmanned vessel for personnel recovery.
The Corsair drone boat, developed by Texas-based Saronic Technologies, was remotely piloted by a human operator and took the crew to a safe location where they were picked up by a helicopter.
Saronic Technologies' co-founder Vibhav Altekar, an Indian-American, is the Chief Technology Officer and leads the development of the company's autonomous systems.
The US Navy's Task Force 59, established in 2021, deployed the Corsair under its unmanned and artificial intelligence unit, enhancing maritime security in strategic waterways.
The company has a $392 million production contract with the US Navy for autonomous surface vessels.
