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In 2020, Walker D. Mills, Dylan “Joose” Phillips-Levine, and Collin Fox wrote “‘Cocaine Logistics’ for the Marine Corps,” where they argued that the Marine Corps could learn from drug traffickers and create covert submarines to supply troops deep inside enemy lines. Four years later, and with significant advancements in unmanned systems, we asked them to reflect on their article.      Image: Chief Petty Officer Charly Tautfest via DVIDSIn your 2020 article, “‘Cocaine Logistics’ for the Marine Corps,” you make the case for the Navy to develop low-profile vessels (commonly known as narco-submarines) for a future conflict with China. Nearly five years after this article was written, and given the world’s current threat landscape, do you still assess that these systems are the best solution for a variety of conflict scenarios in the Indo-Pacific? Yes. We think that for the same reasons we pointed to in 2020, the sustainment of forces in the Western Pacific, particularly Marine “Stand-in Forces,” is still one of the leading challenges in the theater. If anything, the challenge has become even more urgent as the People’s Liberation Army continues to become more capable and aggressive. Uncrewed low-profile vessels are a great solution for contested logistics, but they are, of course, only one among many. No single platform or technology can solve the challenge — there will have to be multiple overlapping solutions that include new technology, new concepts, new training, etc.Your article was ahead of its time in determining the need for the United States to develop its own variation of “narco-submarines.” Since that time, several reports have advocated for their development for use in a conflict with China, and in Sept. 2024, the Marines began tests of these exact vessels. What is the current status of thought about these vessels? What capabilities must they prove to convince decision makers that they are