Kunal Mehra, the CEO of Scientific Systems, stated that the firm is aiding the United States in maintaining its “military advantage” through the development of drone boats aimed at cartels.
Host Mike Slater talked about Operation Southern Spear, which includes a fleet of robots targeting cartels designated as foreign terrorist organizations by President Donald Trump.
Military initiatives and surveillance efforts are focused on “deploying a unique combination of robotic aircraft and vessels to fight against drug trafficking cartels in Latin America,” Slater shared with Mehra, who leads one of the companies producing these technologies.
“We are a defense tech software firm situated in the Boston area, focused on ensuring America’s military superiority by quickly deploying cost-effective, low-budget swarming drones. We operate in every domain—from the ocean floor to space,” Mehra explained, elaborating on these autonomous boats being utilized against cartels.
“We refer to this capability as affordable mass, driven by AI and autonomy software,” he noted, indicating that the era of matching adversaries “system-to-system” is fading.
“You know, the days of comparing capabilities directly are limited—it’s becoming unfeasible. As the Ukrainian military has demonstrated, larger ships don’t necessarily win wars. It is smart, software-driven systems that make the difference,” he clarified.
“The concept involves creating a significant number of very low-cost drones that can be rapidly mass-produced using commercial production lines. Then, we implement cutting-edge software,” he mentioned. “Rather than pursuing a one-on-one fight, we deploy eight, ten, or twenty of these systems simultaneously to strike enemy ship and aircraft positions from multiple directions, effectively overwhelming their defenses.”
These maritime drones, also known as unmanned surface vessels, effectively transform into weapon systems.
“To put it simply, we’ve taken everyday recreational boats, the kind families would use for weekend fishing, and converted them into weapon systems,” he said.
“These are, in essence, low-cost commercial boats that can be produced in large quantities, and our system is named VENOM. Our boats are really innovative—they’re constructed from this durable type of plastic,” Mehra mentioned, adding that he finds it “tough, inexpensive, and quick to manufacture.”
“What truly distinguishes VENOM is the AI software that powers the platform. We call this entire software stack CMA, Collaborative Mission Autonomous. It’s similar to Tesla’s self-driving tech. We enhance it by integrating it into boats, allowing multiple systems to communicate and swarm together. This lets us, you know, attack a hostile warship from various angles and surpass its defenses,” he described.
Mehra indicated that his company collaborates with partners that manufacture boats and explained how their technology interacts with cartel targeting.
“They operate a tiered system, right?” he noted about the Southern Sphere operation.
“We’ll be utilizing aerial assets alongside strategically placed buoys throughout the Caribbean to detect illegal vessels as they enter our waters. We refer to VENOM as an interceptor because it has an extensive range,” he said.
“These systems can currently travel up to 1,000 nautical miles and achieve speeds around 35 knots, which is quite fast. They’re designed to operate in various configurations, almost like a tripwire to monitor waterways for potential threats,” he explained, elaborating how the platforms share information and “triangulate their intended paths as illegal vessels approach.” You know, to catch those darker, suspicious ships.
“With a single command, we can direct one of our VENOM platforms to track a suspect vessel, providing real-time video, images, and surveillance data to the military. This helps assess whether a ship is engaged in commercial fishing or if it’s involved in drug smuggling. By reviewing the footage, you can determine the necessary course of action,” he said.
