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I suspect sub/boat drones have been used in the water for a long time. Seems like it would be relatively easy.

Yeah, I've read in the past some busts of big drug submarines, but I think having some small drone subs would make much more sense:

1. Unlike air drones, relatively small sub drones would be much more difficult to spot and intercept. The ocean is already filled with a lot of stuff like fish, so it seems like it would be relatively easy to camouflage.

2. One lost drone is a relatively small loss vs. having a big sub get intercepted and lose millions worth of product.

3. Now sure how big of a battery you'd need. Curious how long, say, a 2 mile long swim by a small sub would require in kWh.

The issue is range, as you hint at with your last point. Because of how hydrodynamics works, big ships/subs are more efficient than small ones, and so it's relatively hard to make a small sub with enough range to be useful (or even enough thrust to reliably make progress in the open ocean).

http://www.hisutton.com/Narco%20Subs%20101.html

wow that's super cool thanks!

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