Probably not a bad idea, although you might be even more successful if your attachment unit just spot welded itself to the ship. (of course that leaves traces but it requires no energy to keep attached).
The sea gliders are interesting (see Liquid Robotics) but they have limited cargo capacity. 15,000 lbs would be like 5,000 sea gliders, that is a big foot print.
The game will of course really change when the human operators step out. Most drug cartels seem unwilling to risk their load to robotic pilots but at some point that will change. In a submersible you could gain a tremendous advantage if you didn't care how 'deep' you went relative to the Coast Guard.
Once we get electro-stimulus drugs this will become moot of course but in the mean time it makes for some interesting engineering challenges.
The sea gliders are interesting (see Liquid Robotics) but they have limited cargo capacity. 15,000 lbs would be like 5,000 sea gliders, that is a big foot print.
The game will of course really change when the human operators step out. Most drug cartels seem unwilling to risk their load to robotic pilots but at some point that will change. In a submersible you could gain a tremendous advantage if you didn't care how 'deep' you went relative to the Coast Guard.
Once we get electro-stimulus drugs this will become moot of course but in the mean time it makes for some interesting engineering challenges.