The Coast Guard and Maritime Transportation Subcommittee, led by Chairman Mike Ezell (R-MS), has scheduled a hearing to review the Coast Guard’s use of experimental maritime technologies. The session will focus on both current and potential applications of autonomous and automated systems within the service. The hearing is set for 2:00 p.m. ET on Tuesday, December 16, 2025, at the Rayburn House Office Building in Washington, D.C.
The panel of witnesses includes Rear Admiral David C. Barata, who serves as Deputy Commandant for Operations Policy and Assistant Commandant for Intelligence at the United States Coast Guard; Rear Admiral Jason P. Tama, Commander of Coast Guard Cyber Command; Andrew Von Ah, Director of Physical Infrastructure at the Government Accountability Office; and Heidi C. Perry (to be confirmed), Chair of the National Academies of Sciences’ report on leveraging unmanned systems for Coast Guard missions.
Chairman Ezell stated that the hearing will examine how well the Coast Guard is adapting to changes in maritime technology through its adoption of new tools such as autonomous vessels and other automated solutions.
Further details about the hearing—including witness testimony and a live webcast—will be made available online as they are released.
