January 14, 2026
What U.S. Maritime Enforcement Is Up Against in 2026: An Exclusive Interview with Blas Nuñez-Neto
Outsmart threats, detect anomalies and uncover emerging trends as they happen, giving you the edge to act fast. Supercharge your strategy with actionable intelligence, deep risk insights, and automated vessel screening that transforms decision-making from reactive to proactive.
Smuggling networks, maritime crime, and infrastructure threats evolve daily. Windward enables maritime enforcement teams to detect, investigate, and act in real time – streamlining intelligence and strengthening visibility across your EEZ.
Prioritize suspicious vessels, routes, and cargoes using advanced risk models that surface potential smuggling, trafficking, and sanctions violations before they escalate
Continuously collect and analyze global vessel activity, enabling early detection of deceptive behaviors, sanctions evasion, smuggling routes, and emerging maritime threats
Screen vessels (with Gen AI), ownership structures, cargoes, and voyage patterns against built-in risk models and behavioral indicators to identify suspicious activity and map potential illicit networks
Produce dynamic reports and real-time alerts that feed directly into operational workflows-supporting interdiction efforts, tactical deployments, and strategic intelligence briefings
Proprietary behavioral models for border security, IUU fishing, and compliance risks enable real-time detection of high-risk vessels and emerging maritime threats. Windward flags behaviors linked to smuggling, interference with critical infrastructure, and more, empowering you to act before threats reach your borders.
Screen vessels for anomalies and risk indicators and track vessels across their lifecycle with patented entity resolution that resists identity spoofing.
Windward leverages Gen AI, 15+ proprietary AI models, and patented deep learning algorithms to detect suspicious and deceptive activities.
From detecting GNSS manipulation and AIS spoofing – with 75% fewer false positives – to flagging dark activities and ship-to-ship transfers in high risk regions, Windward enables authorities to uncover concealed networks and illicit cargo movements.
MAI Expert™ acts like a seasoned security analyst, automating vessel screening, surfacing hidden risks, and recommending next steps to accelerate investigations. It connects the dots across behavioral anomalies, deceptive practices, and risk patterns, helping you spot threats early.
Paired with tools like Visual Link Analysis, analysts can trace networks and follow leads without switching systems – streamlining workflows and cutting time to intelligence.
What is Windward’s Border and Asset Security solution?
Windward’s Border and Asset Security solution delivers predictive, intelligence-led visibility across maritime borders and critical assets. It combines multi-source maritime data, AI-driven behavioral analysis, and automated risk models to detect emerging threats, prioritize high-risk vessels, and support real-time interdiction and asset protection decisions across EEZs and sensitive maritime zones.
What makes Windward’s approach to Border and Asset Security different from traditional maritime monitoring systems?
Unlike systems limited to static data, radar feeds, or point-in-time alerts, Windward applies behavioral AI and predictive analytics to understand how vessels operate over time and in relation to sensitive borders and assets. This enables earlier detection of intent, emerging smuggling patterns, and infrastructure-related threats, not just visibility into where vessels are.
What types of threats can Windward detect for border and asset security missions?
Windward detects a wide range of maritime threats, including smuggling and trafficking operations, IUU fishing, sanctions evasion, deceptive shipping practices (such as AIS spoofing and GNSS manipulation), ship-to-ship transfers, and suspicious activity near critical maritime infrastructure. The solution also surfaces emerging patterns and coordinated behaviors that signal evolving threats to borders and assets.
How does Windward support the protection of critical maritime and coastal assets?
Windward monitors vessel behavior around ports, offshore platforms, subsea infrastructure, and sensitive coastal zones, detecting loitering, repeated approaches, deceptive movement patterns, and abnormal activity. By combining behavioral intelligence with asset-specific risk models, agencies gain early warning of potential interference or escalation, enabling proactive protection of critical assets.
How does Windward support interdiction and operational response efforts?
By delivering early warnings, prioritized vessel risk assessments, and full behavioral context, Windward helps agencies focus limited patrol and enforcement resources on the highest-risk targets. Alerts and intelligence outputs feed directly into operational workflows, supporting faster interdiction, smarter asset deployment, and defensible enforcement actions.
How does Remote Sensing Intelligence support border and asset security operations?
Remote Sensing Intelligence strengthens border and asset security by validating vessel behavior beyond cooperative signals. Windward fuses SAR, EO, and RF satellite detections with behavioral analytics to identify dark vessels, confirm proximity to borders or critical assets, and verify suspicious activity in areas where AIS is unavailable, manipulated, or intentionally disabled. This enables agencies to confirm threats, prioritize response, and support enforcement actions with visual and sensor-backed evidence.
Can Windward track and analyze smuggling or illicit maritime networks?
Yes. Windward maps vessel relationships, ownership structures, and behavioral patterns to expose smuggling routes and coordinated illicit networks. Using Visual Link Analysis, users can instantly visualize hidden connections across entities, vessels, and events, transforming complex intelligence into clear, actionable insights.
Can Windward’s Border and Asset Security solution be tailored to specific borders, EEZs, or critical assets?
Yes. Agencies can define custom borders, EEZs, ports, offshore assets, or infrastructure zones and apply mission-specific risk models and alert thresholds. This ensures surveillance, detection, and response are aligned to operational priorities rather than generic monitoring.
What is MAI Expert™, and how does it support border and asset security operations?
MAI Expert™ acts as a virtual maritime security analyst, delivering Gen AI-generated explanations of vessel behavior, risk drivers, and operational context. It supports vessel screening, investigation workflows, and intelligence reporting, helping teams interpret threats quickly and decide on next steps with confidence.
How does Windward reduce false positives in threat detection?
Windward fuses behavioral, contextual, and historical data to distinguish genuine security risks from routine maritime activity. By evaluating intent, patterns, and deviations over time, the platform significantly reduces false positives while maintaining high detection accuracy.
How does Windward integrate with existing maritime surveillance systems?
Windward integrates via APIs with command-and-control systems, ISR platforms, and intelligence environments. This enables agencies to enrich existing operational pictures with behavioral intelligence, predictive risk insights, and automated alerts without replacing core systems.
Is Windward’s Border and Asset Security solution suitable for multi-agency collaboration?
Yes. The solution supports secure intelligence sharing, standardized reporting, and coordinated operational views, enabling collaboration across coast guards, navies, intelligence agencies, regulators, and infrastructure operators while maintaining governance and access controls.
