In the Middle East, uncrewed maritime systems are supporting continuous national surveillance operations in extreme heat, high salinity, congested waters and a complex security environment. Since August last year, our operations have been running around the clock in live conditions, generating more than 13,000 hours of operational experience. Of everything we’ve done over the years, this has been one of the clearest reminders that the real challenge in maritime autonomy is not proving a system can work. It is proving it can keep working to do the job it’s there to do. In this case, persistence: 24/7/365. The fact that these systems are in place is not news in itself; autonomy and robotics are well past the stage of being seen as novel. Governments and businesses around the world are already exploring how to use them. The more important question now is what sustained operations reveal that one-off demonstrations do not: whether these systems can produce effective operational outcomes, consistently, over long periods of time. Why persistence is hard More often than not, operational failure is not simply a technology problem. Persistent operations fail because operating robotic systems at sea, continuously and at scale, is extraordinarily difficult – I know that because we’ve learnt the hard way. I firmly believe the maritime domain is one of the harshest operating environments on the planet. We’re currently operating in the Middle East where temperatures regularly exceed 50 degrees. Add saltwater, humidity, corrosion, vibration and biofouling, and the result is constant stress on platforms and sensors. Our vessels have sucked up fishing gear. Cameras have melted in the heat. These are not ‘edge cases’; they are part of normal operations. Live use has exposed equipment limits that manufacturers have not had to solve before, which means new problems have had to be worked through in real time while service continuity is maintained. Keeping systems operating in thos