Saildrone Surveyor
Saildrone's 20m uncrewed surface vessel class
A Saildrone Surveyor fired two Joint Air-to-Ground Missiles during RIMPAC 2026, announced on 20 August, the first missile launch from a Saildrone vessel. Stark Defence and MBDA, WHO unveiled a missile-armed robot boat plan on 30 September, have yet to fire from theirs.
Last refreshed: 7 October 2026
Timeline for Saildrone Surveyor
Mentioned in: Stark and MBDA plan Sea Venom on a USV
Autonomous Systems: Land & SeaBackground
The Surveyor is Saildrone's largest uncrewed surface vessel: 20m long, about 15 tons, with a 13m wing sail and an 80hp diesel. Saildrone gives it 100 days between service stops. It carries radar, electro-optical and infrared cameras, AIS and hydrographic payloads for full-ocean-depth mapping and maritime surveillance. The first Surveyor launched in January 2021, and Austal USA builds the class in Mobile, Alabama.
The class was designed to map the seabed. During RIMPAC 2026 a Surveyor fired two Joint Air-to-Ground Missiles at a surrogate high-speed surface craft, with the US Navy's ARES system controlling the weapons, in the first missile launch from a Saildrone vessel. European rivals planning armed boats now measure themselves against that shot: Stark Defence and MBDA announced on 30 September 2026 a plan to Arm a 12m boat with Sea Venom missiles, but have not fired from it.
The RIMPAC firing showed the Surveyor as a possible weapons carrier, in a demonstration rather than a funded programme. Its long endurance and sensor load remain the reasons navies buy it.