Lockheed Martin is investing $50 million in Saildrone to fit its JAGM Quad Launcher onto the Saildrone Surveyor unmanned surface vehicle (USV). Integration work is planned to finish in Q1 2026 at Austal USA, followed by an on-water live demonstration.
This will be the first time a Saildrone vessel carries an offensive weapons payload, expanding the platform’s role beyond meteorology, oceanography, and surveillance. The Surveyor measures 20 meters (65 feet) and displaces 15 tons (13,608 kg / 30,000 lb), making it the largest operational unmanned surface vehicle in service. It combines radar, cameras, AIS, and advanced machine learning to deliver global situational awareness.
The upcoming trials will also represent the JAGM’s first sea-launched test; JAGM was originally developed as an air-launched successor to the Hellfire. Lockheed recently demonstrated its modular Quad Launcher—four missile canisters—designed to be adapted across multiple platforms. The program supports the U.S. Navy’s objective to field USVs for tasks including fleet defense, undersea surveillance, reconnaissance, and strike missions. Work starts immediately using an open-architecture framework and secure command-and-control systems to enable the integration.
Saildrone—originally launched in 2013—uses wind, solar, and wave energy for exceptional range and endurance. The company has set multiple autonomous-surface-vehicle records (Antarctic circumnavigation, transatlantic crossing, Arctic missions and a year-long maintenance-free deployment). In defense, Saildrone executed its first U.S. Coast Guard demonstration in 2020 and began cooperating with the U.S. Navy’s Task Force 59 in 2021. In response to growing global threats, the company has concluded that arming the Surveyor is necessary to provide credible deterrence and powerful strike capability.
