Saildrone marked a milestone for its unmanned surface vehicle technology with two demonstration launches of the Joint Air-to-Ground Missile (JAGM) from a 65’ Saildrone Surveyor during the U.S. Navy’s recent Rim of the Pacific exercise.
The RIMPAC live-fire operation, conducted off the coast of Hawaii under the sponsorship of the US Navy Fleet Experimentation Program, was the first-ever missile launch from a Saildrone USV.
Coordinated with the USS Theodore Roosevelt Carrier Strike Group-9 and enabled by the Navy’s ARES (Adjunct Remote Engagement System), the Saildrone Surveyor demonstrated its ability to act on target data for a simulated high-speed surface craft.
“This successful live fire demonstration was the result of pairing one of the most tried and trusted munitions with the most operationally deployed class of USV on the planet,” said Richard Jenkins, Saildrone’s founder and CEO. “Not only does this deliver mission-ready, kinetic USV capability today, but it also de-risks and accelerates our journey of fitting more sophisticated kinetic capabilities, like the Mk70 launcher, to our larger platform, the Saildrone Spectre.”
Jenkins said the company will “continue to develop our platform capabilities to meet the rapidly evolving operational requirements of our customers.”
The demonstration culminated six months of joint development between Saildrone and Lockheed Martin, which originated with a strategic partnership in October 2025. The RIMPAC exercise showed the Surveyor’s versatility by deploying a passive electronic warfare sensor that successfully detected, classified, and identified a surrogate threat radar system in conjunction with an MH-60 Seahawk helicopter.
“Lockheed Martin and Saildrone are leading the way to act differently and leverage the strength of all of industry for our national defense. We will continue to invest in new capabilities ahead of need to accelerate and de-risk deployment of urgently needed defense technologies,” said Paul Lemmo, vice president and general manager for sensors, effectors and mission systems at Lockheed Martin.
Saildrone officials said the RIMPAC demonstration was the first of a series of planned integrations ahead of the launch of Saildrone’s largest USV, the 52-meter (170’) Saildrone Spectre.
Measuring 52 meters (170 feet) in length, the Spectre can accommodate much larger, containerized mission sets and payloads. Future capabilities for this platform include the integration of the Lockheed Martin Mk 70 launcher and various towed arrays designed to support anti-submarine warfare operations.
