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A V-BAT unmanned aerial system prepares to take off from the flight deck of San Antonio-class amphibious transport dock ship USS Portland (LPD 27) in the Pacific Ocean. (U.S. Marine Corps photo by Cpl. Avery Wayland/Public Domain)
The United States Coast Guard has spent millions on surveillance and reconnaissance services using unmanned aerial drones “for Puerto Rico,” according to procurement records reviewed by The Latino Newsletter.
The record provides insight into how the Coast Guard is expanding its intelligence capabilities in the Caribbean. The region has become a hotbed of conflict as part of the Trump administration’s war on drugs through airstrikes on alleged drug traffickers and maritime interdictions.
“VBAT SHORE BASED SERVICES. TASK ORDER FOR PUERTO RICO,” reads the Coast Guard delivery order, which was originally signed on March 2 for nearly $6 million. Since then, the order has ballooned to a little over $16 million in total obligations, per an April 10 modification.
The V-BAT is an unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) developed by Shield AI that can perform vertical takeoffs and landings, allowing it to be easily deployed from Coast Guard cutters. It is designed to fly for a minimum of 12 hours while providing continuous surveillance back to the Coast Guard, and can be set up by a two-man team in less than 30 minutes in almost any location. The Coast Guard credits the V-BAT with more than $1 billion in narcotics seizures in 2025, according to the Wall Street Journal.
The federal government’s spending database states that the contract is for “support - professional intelligence”. The start date for the delivery order is April 27 and the potential end date is June 26, 2026. The contract and other federal databases do not contain more details about the use of the drones or intelligence services.
The Coast Guard acknowledged a request for comment, but did not respond by publication time. Shield AI referred questions about the Coast Guard’s use of the drone back to the federal agency.
“The continued availability of [unmanned aircraft systems] capabilities represents a critical addition to the Coast Guard’s airborne surveillance fleet, providing the persistent intelligence, surveillance, and reconnaissance capacity required for effective mission execution across the national security cutters’ diverse operational portfolio,” a Coast Guard press release said about the V-BAT completing operational testing in 2025.
A Larger Contract
The delivery order that mentions Puerto Rico is part of a larger $229.3 million contract with Shield AI to provide contractor-owned, contractor-operated services with V-BATs for reconnaissance and intelligence missions, per a Coast Guard press release. The contract was initially only for national security cutters, the largest vessels in the Coast Guard’s fleet, but the Coast Guard began land-based deployments of V-BATs along the U.S.-Mexico border in January. It is also exploring its deployment on cutters with small flight decks or without flight decks.
The Coast Guard has a 1.3 million square mile area of responsibility across the Caribbean, where it often conducts search-and-rescue missions, maritime interdictions, and law-enforcement operations. It often collaborates with federal and state law enforcement agencies, such as Customs and Border Protection and the Puerto Rico Police’s Joint Forces for Rapid Action, as well as with 26 partner nations.
Thousands of undocumented migrants traverse the Mona Passage from the Dominican Republic to Puerto Rico every year. Many travel on wooden boats known as yawls that are stopped by law enforcement agencies mid-trip. Yawls are often also used to transport illicit drugs from neighboring nations to Puerto Rico. Sometimes, yawls will carry both undocumented immigrants and illicit drugs.
Most other procurement records mentioning V-BATs indicate they will be used on different Coast Guard cutters. There appears to be only one other delivery order in the U.S. government's e-procurement database that mentions “shore-based” V-BAT deployments. The order’s description appears to say it is the third such task order.
The drone, developed under a 2021 U.S. Navy contract with Shield AI, flew over 200 missions in Ukraine in 2025, where it has operated despite GPS and electronic jamming. Japan, India, and the Netherlands have purchased V-BAT drones for use by their security forces.
The Navy recently announced it had selected Shield AI to compete for an $800 million surveillance contract. Marine Expeditionary Units have previously practiced with the drone.
While the V-BAT was designed with reconnaissance in mind, Shield AI has explored mounting weapons on it. In January, the company announced a partnership with a Korean arms company to mount the V-BAT with six-pound guided missiles, according to Business Insider.
The Coast Guard previously used Boeing-designed UAVs called ScanEagle. The company’s contract with the Coast Guard ends in June. The Coast Guard also recently acquired its first MQ-9 Reaper drones to assist with drug interdictions and search-and-rescue missions.
Do you have any information about this drone intelligence contract or any other type of federal surveillance? You can contact me here or via a secure Signal message at vaquero2XL.99.
Carlos Berríos Polanco is a journalist from Puerto Rico who covers climate, conflict, and their intersection. He is also the Deputy Editor of The Latino Newsletter’s San Juan Bureau.
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