Lockheed Martin has invested $50m in Saildrone, a company specialising in maritime autonomous systems.
The partnership will develop commercially available uncrewed surface vehicles (USVs) that incorporate lethal, combat-proven capabilities.
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Work on the project will begin immediately, focusing on integrating Lockheed Martin’s JAGM Quad Launcher system onto the Saildrone Surveyor platform.
The companies will use an open architecture approach and secure command and control capability for this integration.
Larger Saildrone vehicles are already being developed to support substantially bigger payloads and capabilities, including the Lockheed Martin Mk70 VLS launcher and thin‑line towed arrays.
Both companies plan to conduct on-water, live fire demonstrations in 2026.
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By GlobalDataThe production of these USVs will generate employment at Austal USA’s Gulf Coast facility, where Saildrone manufactures its larger systems.
Saildrone founder and CEO Richard Jenkins said: “This collaboration will give Saildrone the tools we need to transform the capabilities of our platforms, to include electronic warfare, anti-submarine warfare, sophisticated surveillance and reconnaissance, as well as deploying kinetic effects, all seamlessly integrated with Lockheed Martin’s trusted command, control, and fire control systems.”
This partnership aligns with the US Navy’s vision for USVs to play a role in critical missions such as fleet defence, undersea surveillance, reconnaissance, and attack.
Saildrone USVs have been operating in remote ocean environments since 2013 and were first deployed by the US Navy in 2021.
These vehicles are currently operational alongside American sailors in combat theatres worldwide, working continuously throughout the year.
Lockheed Martin rotary and mission systems president Stephanie C. Hill said: “Lockheed Martin and Saildrone are leading the way to answer President Trump’s call for the defence industry to act differently and leverage the strength of all of industry for our national defence.”
Under the terms of the agreement, Saildrone will hold all shipbuilding responsibilities while Lockheed Martin will act as lead mission integrator.
The investment in Saildrone is intended to accelerate and reduce risk in the deployment of defence technologies that are urgently needed.
Lockheed Martin is also investing in its existing products to enable fully autonomous operations.
