General says the Marine Corps 'stole' the narco-sub idea from drug runners to move missiles and more

• The Marine Corps has a new unmanned, semisubmersible vessel to transport supplies and weapons.
• The general said the design is "just a narco-boat," an idea stolen from drug smugglers.
• The vessel could be useful for resupplying US forces in the heat of combat.

The Marine Corps got its inspiration for a new unmanned, semisubmersible vessel from narco-submarines used to transport drugs, a general said.

The vessel is intended to transport equipment, weapons, and supplies to forward-deployed Marines, helping to make US forces more maneuverable and flexible.

Marine Corps Brig. Gen. Simon Doran said at a DefenseNews conference on Wednesday that the idea for the autonomous, low-profile vessel was effectively stolen from vessels used for smuggling drugs.

"Truth be told, this is just a narco-boat . We stole the idea from friends down south," Doran said.

"And so this is 55-feet long, completely autonomous. It's able to go hundreds or thousands of miles. It's able to carry weapon systems that we have that are new," he said. Doran added that the boats "can carry pretty much anything you want to put in it."

The Marine Corps tested the new vessel at Camp Pendleton in February as part of Project Convergence Capstone 4 , an Army-led joint force exercise on advanced capabilities.

The new vessel can be configured to deliver a variety of supplies and equipment, giving the Marines flexibility in how, when, and where to use it.

Doran said the drone's low-profile design helps keep it out of sight in combat, and because the boat is unmanned, the Marine Corps can keep more of its personnel out of danger.

"If you have that unit located inside a weapons engagement zone, contested logistics and the ability to maneuver in the littorals becomes key," Doran said at the conference. "And for that, what we're looking at is trying to acquire systems that we deem risk-worthy, meaning that we don't necessarily want to just waste them, but we'd rather put something in there that's autonomous, that doesn't have humans on it, that can do some of these higher-risk missions without having personnel put in that riskier situation."

The Pentagon has prioritized the development of unmanned equipment. Last year, the Department of Defense announced the Replicator initiative, a long-term program to field thousands of autonomous systems . Few details about the initiative have been released, but $1 billion has been allocated to the program this fiscal year, indicating it's likely making progress.

The initiative has been driven by the possibility of a future conflict with China, with US defense officials saying unmanned systems would give the nation an asymmetric advantage against China should the two superpowers clash one day.

To that end, the military has looked at unmanned warships , wingmen , and recon assets to boost joint forces in battle.

The Pentagon has also focused on dispersal and maneuverability capabilities to shield forces from a missile strike and electronic-warfare capabilities for battles inside the electromagnetic spectrum.