Saildrone deploys 20 USVs to support US Navy’s activities along southern border

US company Saildrone has deployed unmanned surface vehicles (USVs), equipped with upgraded sensors, to assist the US Navy in monitoring illegal activity along the southern maritime borders.

As disclosed, Saildrone is doubling its fleet of unmanned surface vehicles Saildrone Voyager in the Caribbean and the Pacific Ocean in support of Operation Southern Spear to detect and stem the flow of illegal drugs traveling through known maritime corridors into the United States. 

Saildrone Voyager is a 10-meter vehicle designed to support distributed maritime operations by monitoring critical areas. The USV is equipped with ‘advanced sensors, radar, and communication systems’, and can detect suspicious vessels, track their movements, and relay near real-time intelligence into a common operating picture for action.

In 2023, classification society ABS issued the first-ever class certificate for a commercial, uncrewed surface vehicle to Saildrone Voyager.

Once a target is identified, Saildrone provides precise coordinates and other data, to enable the US Coast Guard to interdict suspicious targets before they reach US waters or deliver their illicit cargo.

Specifically, the USVs will be operating in support of Joint Interagency Task Force South (JIATF-S) and US Naval Forces Southern Command/US Navy Fourth Fleet (NAVSOUTH/FOURTHFLT).

“Operation Southern Spear will advance the Navy’s Hybrid Fleet Campaign and Project 33 target to operationalize Robotic and Autonomous Systems (RAS). Long-dwell Unmanned Surface Vehicles that provide valuable intelligence, reconnaissance, and surveillance are a valuable asset in maritime domain awareness,” US Naval Forces Southern Command/US Navy Fourth Fleet director of innovation, Cmdr. Jon Williams, stated.

“In Operation Southern Spear, the fleet will continue to assess the full capabilities of RAS and how best to integrate them in US Navy and JIATF-S missions. The common maritime operational picture will allow our team the ability to monitor and support the detection and monitoring of illicit trafficking in our areas of operation.”

Operation Southern Spear is an evolution and expansion of Operation Windward Stack, which was operated by the US Navy’s 4th Fleet in the Caribbean throughout 2024. During Windward Stack, operators in the 4th Fleet used Saildrone data to increase their maritime domain awareness in critical choke points, traditionally used for trafficking people and narcotics in the Caribbean. 

The 1.5-year mission showed that Saildrone USVs operate at a small fraction of the cost of a coast guard or navy ship, allowing large-scale deployments of many ocean drones to patrol an AOR, the company concluded.