A new public-private plan to transform maritime security in Southeast Asia will commit about $95 million annually for low-cost, commercially available solutions to strengthen maritime domain awareness (MDA), sustainment and security in the region.
The United States Department of Defense (DOD) launched the Maritime Security (MARSEC) Consortium in November 2024. It will unite Southeast Asian government leaders, U.S. innovation officials and defense industry stakeholders to address pressing challenges.
Ensuring Southeast Asian Allies and Partners have impactful, cost-effective ways to monitor, manage and enforce maritime security will increase regional and global peace, security and prosperity, the DOD said.
MDA programs address critical needs in Southeast Asia, including nonconventional threats such as illegal fishing, researcher Hoang Do of Vietnam’s East Sea Institute wrote in the Security Nexus journal for the Daniel K. Inouye Asia-Pacific Center for Security Studies.
Real-time data from across vast maritime territory, such as information supported by artificial intelligence and uncrewed vehicles, can help states detect and understand challenges more quickly, Do said.
“A situation where a similar mechanism has led to success is the case of the Regional Cooperation Agreement on Combating Piracy and Armed Robbery against Ships in Asia (ReCAAP),” he wrote. “It is reported that the number of incidents in Asia has decreased overall ever since the establishment of ReCAAP’s information-sharing center, which increases understanding of what [happens] on the ground. … The severity and frequency of armed robbery are shown to generally drop from 2018-2022 with countries like the Philippines or Indonesia making visible improvements.”
The MARSEC Consortium also will expand technology demonstrations for Allies and Partners in multilateral exercises such as Balikatan in the Philippines, the DOD said.
Southeast Asian nations participate with the U.S. in dozens of bilateral and multilateral exercises yearly, with Washington committing 30,000 personnel to support partner readiness and interoperability. Other multinational regional exercises include Cobra Gold, hosted by Thailand and the U.S., and Super Garuda Shield, which is hosted by Indonesia and the U.S. The U.S. will hold its second maritime exercise with the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) in 2025, according to DOD.
MARSEC Consortium partners will meet regularly to mitigate barriers to delivering security technology and will cooperate with like-minded partners to achieve defense objectives.
The U.S. Office of the Assistant Secretary of Defense for Indo-Pacific Security Affairs is collaborating with the Defense Innovation Unit, the Defense Security Cooperation Agency and the U.S. Indo-Pacific Command on the MARSEC Consortium.
“The United States envisions a Southeast Asian region free of coercion where safety, security, sovereignty, self-determination, and prosperity are shepherded by ASEAN centrality,” the DOD stated. “With more than 60% of global maritime trade transiting Southeast Asia by ship, the maritime domain is central to security and prosperity in Southeast Asia. The United States is committed to ensuring these trading lanes remain free and open for all.”
