naval operations have shifted largely to coastal and inland areas.

The nature of these operations has also undergone fundamental changes; currently, we are primarily dealing with so-called asymmetric threats, which can take forms such as terrorism or piracy. In light of these new threats, closer attention must also be paid to the security of inland shipping routes, especially when they are located in border areas. The tasks assigned to state services such as the Border Guard require the use of completely different measures that will be able to meet new threats such as the aforementioned asymmetric actions, illegal immigration, or smuggling activities. Unmanned surface vehicles are perfectly suited for performing these types of tasks.Furthermore, waterways with significant traffic density allow a potential adversary to mask themselves among civilian vessels carrying out their routine operations, which increases background saturation with a large number of objects. Waterways located on rivers are particularly difficult areas from a security perspective, which is why they are an excellent place to utilize a fleet of unmanned units.
A primary undertaking is the creation of a situational awareness system within Polish inland waterways. An excellent example of such a system could be RIS. (…)

naval operations have shifted largely to coastal and inland areas. – PDF file for download