While on a ferry back from St. John in the US Virgin Islands, my wife and I spotted an unusual yet familiar boat in the waters. It turned out to be an unmanned Saildrone scanning and mapping the ocean floor in the Caribbean.

According to the Cayman Compass, in September 2025, SD‑3004 joined SD‑3001 to help survey the seabed around the Cayman Islands, expanding the mission to map about 80% of the nation’s Exclusive Economic Zone.

From what I learned, Saildrone’s autonomous unmanned surface vehicles (USVs) provide 24/7 persistent undersea detection and acoustic surveillance by combining advanced acoustic sensors with long-endurance autonomous navigation. They can continuously track and monitor submarine and other undersea activity in both open ocean and coastal waters, supporting anti-submarine warfare (ASW), maritime security, and the protection of critical undersea infrastructure. Because they operate with low self-noise and run on renewable power, they offer a scalable, cost-effective way to monitor the seas alongside traditional crewed platforms.

In January 2026, Lockheed Martin announced a $50 million investment in Saildrone to accelerate the deployment of autonomous unmanned surface vessels for maritime defense. I wrote about the partnership that combines Saildrone’s long-endurance USVs with Lockheed’s combat systems, including integration of a JAGM launcher, to support missions such as undersea surveillance, fleet defense, and strike operations.

In February 2026, Saildrone reported that its USVs spent over six months in the Baltic Sea, achieving 92% uptime, traveling more than 20,000 nautical miles, and tracking over 170,000 vessels, showcasing the effectiveness of long-endurance autonomous platforms for continuous maritime surveillance.