Can uncrewed undersea vehicles dominate littoral ASW?

Will uncrewed undersea vehicles become the dominant option for littoral ASW and coastal defense?

They may become a core layer, especially where fixed seabed communications support them, but short underwater link ranges keep them dependent on a broader surveillance system.

Large uncrewed undersea vehicles can become an important element of coastal and littoral ASW. Fixed seabed communication systems may pass more data than long-range VLF or ELF links and could coordinate vehicles within a defended area. Their limited reach means those nodes would likely be integrated with SOSUS-like arrays or another local surveillance network. The result is a distributed extension of a shore-backed system rather than an autonomous replacement for submarines, patrol aircraft, and escorts.