Saildrone and Lockheed Martin (LM) teamed up to fire missiles from an autonomous uncrewed surface vessel (USV) at the U.S. Navy’s recent RIMPAC exercise.
As part of the 2026 Rim of the Pacific (RIMPAC) series held in the Pacific off Hawaii, Saildrone’s Surveyor USV fired two Lockheed Martin Joint Air-to-Ground Missiles (JAGMs).
A Saildrone statement read: “These integrations serve as a powerful example of the ability to rapidly combine Saildrone’s commercially proven USV technology with Lockheed Martin’s combat-ready effectors to address the evolving requirements of the U.S. military.”
LM’s JAGM Dual Launcher was integrated onto the Saildrone USV in just six months and the test-firing was initiated from the USS Theodore Roosevelt Carrier Strike Group via the U.S. Navy’s Adjunct Remote Engagement System (ARES) combat management technology.
The USV also teamed with an MH-60S Seahawk helicopter to detect, classify, and identify a radar threat.
In future tests Saildrone plans to use its new Spectre USVs to field larger capabilities including Lockheed Martin’s Mk70 launcher, a containerized version of the Mk41 VLS capable of firing Tomahawk Land Attack Missiles and Standard Missile 6 (SM-6) and Patriot PAC-3 MS for air defence.
It also intends to use a Spectre drone to deploy LM’s Surveillance Towed Array Sensor System (SURTASS), a long-range, mobile sonar system used by the U.S. Navy to detect, track, and classify quiet nuclear and diesel-powered submarines.
LM’s Paul Lemmo said: “Lockheed Martin and Saildrone are leading the way to leverage the strength of industry to deliver autonomous platforms with containerized capabilities for our national defence.”
And Saildrone founder and CEO Richard Jenkins added. “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.
“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.”
- You can read more details on the Lockheed Martin website and the Saildrone website
