THE RISE OF NAVAL DRONES AND THE REDEFINITION OF THE MARITIME BATTLESPACE
THE RISE OF NAVAL DRONES AND THE REDEFINITION OF THE MARITIME BATTLESPACE

Author(s): Adrian NIȚĂ
Subject(s): Politics / Political Sciences, Social Sciences, Security and defense, Military policy, Peace and Conflict Studies
Published by: Carol I National Defence University Publishing House
Keywords: naval drones; unmanned surface vessels (USV); Black Sea conflict; asymmetric warfare; maritime defence; Neptun Deep; autonomous defence architecture.
Summary/Abstract: Throughout the last century, naval power has relied on capital ships requiring years of design and billions in investment. This paradigm now faces unprecedented pressure from Unmanned Surface Vessels (USVs), commonly known as naval drones. The present paper aims to analyse how naval drones redefine the maritime battlespace in semi-enclosed seas and to derive implications for Romania’s resilience in the Black Sea. The main objectives are: to trace the historical cycles of technological disruption in naval warfare, to examine the Black Sea as a live laboratory of naval drone employment, to extract lessons for similar theatres such as the Baltic Sea and the Taiwan Strait, and to develop a three-layer defence architecture for protecting critical maritime infrastructure such as the Neptun Deep project. Methodologically, the paper combines historical-comparative analysis, case studies (Ukraine, Baltic Sea, Taiwan), and doctrinal/strategic document review, integrated through a resilience-oriented analytical lens. The novelty of the study lies in linking operational-tactical drone employment with a concrete and scalable defence proposal for a NATO/EU coastal state whose Exclusive Economic Zone is outside the formal guarantees of Article 5. The expected outcome is a conceptual model of autonomous, multi-layered defence that can inform both Romanian and allied approaches to security in the Black Sea.

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