A San Diego defense technology company is developing underwater robots designed to help military personnel detect sea mines while reducing the dangers of explosive disposal missions. The technology comes as military operations continue in the Strait of Hormuz, where Iran and the United States are wo rking toward a lasting peace agreement and mine-clearing operations have taken place. Greensea IQ, which operates in Mission Hills, develops robotic systems that can operate on the ocean floor. Company leaders said the Bayonet 250 is the workhorse of its product line and is designed to detect mines and quickly send information back to its controller using Greensea’s software. “It’s the only system that can operate from the beach head through the surf zone out to deep water or reverse,” Fred Gaghan, Greensea’s bayonet general manager and retired U.S. Navy captain, said. The mission has taken on renewed relevance in the Strait of Hormuz. On April 11, U.S. Central Command said forces began the process of clearing mines previously laid by Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps. Gaghan and Dennis Doan, also retired Navy and Greensea’s EOD product manager, previously served on the Navy’s Explosive Ordnance Disposal team, where they handled missions involving chemical, biological and explosive threats. “What I explain to people, I tell them, you know, we’re pretty much the bomb squad of the military,” Doan said. Before robotic technology became more widely available, many dangerous tasks required technicians to work up close but, today, the company says robots can take on many of those hazardous jobs. “This is saving so many lives by having something like this be able to go down range for us and do this work,” Doan said after recounting some harrowing experiences of his own on the job. Greensea IQ is headquartered in Vermont, but expanded operations to San Diego to be closer to the region’s defense industry. According to the San Diego Military Advisory Council, the region has more than 356,000 defense-related jobs, and the military contributes more than $60 billion to the local economy. “For defense, as far as underwater is concerned, there’s a lot of different entities out here and key players that play a big part in the defense underwater community, so this is just the place you want to be,” Doan said. The company said the Navy and Marine Corps are among its primary customers. They added that the version of the Bayonet robot that the military buys costs about $700,000 each and the Marine Corps recently ordered 19, according to Gaghan. This story was originally reported for broadcast by NBC San Diego. AI tools helped convert the story to a digital article, and an NBC San Diego journalist edited the article for publication. This story uses functionality that may not work in our app. Click here to open the story in your web browser. ...read more read less