Co-director of IWI’s Maritime Program, Christopher Booth chaired a panel of guests invited by IWI as part of the Naval War College’s Center on Irregular Warfare and Armed Groups (CIWAG) 2026 Symposium – as supported by the Naval War College Foundation - to discuss autonomous maritime vessels. This panel was recorded on 22 June 2026 in Newport, RI. Participants included:
- Representatives from the Maritime Capabilities and Operations Division of the Security Service of Ukraine (SBU var SSU);
- Michael Stewart, CAPT USN (Retired): founder and Principal of N86U, LLC and a Senior Advisor with McKinsey & Company. Stewart is a former naval aviator and USN Senior Executive leader, where he directed the Navy’s Disruptive Capabilities Office and served as Executive Director of the Navy’s Unmanned Task Force, and co-designed Task Force 59, pioneering the deployment of unmanned vessels into operational fleets.
- Austin Gray: co-founder and Chief Strategy Officer of Blue Water Autonomy. Gray is a former U.S. Navy intelligence officer. After leaving active duty he earned an MBA from MIT and MPA from Harvard and worked in Boston’s emerging defense-tech ecosystem. Following business school he worked in a Ukrainian drone factory, where he helped build supply chains and gathered front-line feedback in support of systems used in combat.
Please note that due to Counter-intelligence concerns and security requirements, the names and faces of the SBU officers in attendance have been obscured, and the Ukrainian speaker is using a pseudonym of “Ivan.”
The views expressed on the panel do not reflect the official position of the Irregular Warfare Initiative, the Naval War College, the Naval War College Foundation, or the United States Government.
