Editor’s Brief¹

Last Week we looked at Allen Control Systems and their approach to Kinetic drone take down. In case you’re feed wasn’t blowing up (no pun intended) with countless opinions on the drone strike deep into Russia, check out some info here. This brings ACS into an even more interesting position for fixed site drone defense.

This week, we are going back to the maritime domain. And looking at a company actually deploying platforms with the US Navy and soon to be NATO.

As always, your feedback shapes our coverage—reply directly with insights or questions.

Signal Brief: Saildrone - A Wind-Powered USV Revolution?

Saildrone builds long-endurance Uncrewed Surface Vehicles (USVs) that rely on wind propulsion and solar power for onboard systems. Originally designed for scientific data collection, it has evolved into a multi-mission platform supporting maritime domain awareness (MDA), intelligence, surveillance, reconnaissance (ISR), and deep-ocean mapping.

Origins & Vision

Founded in 2012 by Richard Jenkins, Saildrone began after his decade-long pursuit of the land-speed record for wind-powered vehicles. Jenkins adapted his 2009 record-setting “Greenbird” wing for maritime use and launched Saildrone in partnership with ocean scientists to create autonomous data-collection vehicles.

The transition from scientific research to defense applications continued through early partnerships with NOAA's Pacific Marine Environmental Laboratory. Missions have included surviving a Category 4 hurricane, circumnavigating Antarctica, and operating continuously at sea for over 365 days.

Saildrone’s philosophy is straightforward: prove capability under extreme operational conditions before scaling to defense. Unlike many competitors, their credibility comes from operational results rather than demo videos.

Key Takeaways

• Mission/Data as a Service (M/DAAS): Provides mission capabilities and data pipelines while retaining ownership of the assets, minimizing the maintenance burden typically associated with ship fleets.

• Fleet Variety: Three platform sizes cover scientific, security, and deep-ocean ASW applications.

• Renewable Energy Advantage: Wind and solar propulsion reduce resupply logistics, enabling operations in contested environments.

• American Bureau of Shipping (ABS) Certification: Voyager is the first USV certified for operations in ports and waters requiring classification approval.

Tech Radar:

Fleet Architecture and Platform Variants

Saildrone operates a tiered fleet optimized for different ASW mission profiles, each leveraging the core wind/solar propulsion advantage:

Saildrone USVs operate semi-autonomously: human pilots set waypoints and mission parameters via satellite link, while onboard software autonomously adjusts the sail and rudder to maintain course and optimal speed.

The vehicles can avoid collisions and navigate maritime traffic by leveraging AIS (Automatic Identification System) data, radar, and computer vision from onboard cameras.

The Surveyor, built by Austal USA, recently integrated Australian manufacturer Thales’ BlueSentry towed sonar array, enabling an autonomous Anti-Submarine Warfare (ASW) and serving as a counterpart to China’s Underwater Great Wall.

Market Signals

Funding & Growth

• Total Funding: $325M since 2012

• Latest Round: $60M Series C-1 (May 2025)

• Notable Investors: Export and Investment Fund of Denmark, Lux Capital, Washington Harbor Partners, Crowley, Academy Securities

• Valuation: $580M

Contracts & Government Traction

• Palantir Partnership - the company will integrate Palantir’s sophisticated AI cloud infrastructure to enable rapid scaling across its entire operational spectrum

• Operation Southern Spear - 20 Voyagers delivering 3,600 mission days for maritime surveillance and drug interdiction (~$18.5M value).

• Task Force 59 Integration - Operational deployments with U.S. 5th Fleet in the Persian Gulf

• NATO Partnership Pipeline - Four Voyagers to deploy in the Baltic Sea in June 2025 under contract to the Danish Armed Forces.

Saildrone’s GSA Schedule contract streamlines government acquisition, with daily rates positioning their platforms as a fraction of traditional surface combatant operating costs:

• Explorer: ~$2,670/day

• Voyager: ~$5,137/day

• Surveyor: ~$24,685/day

Looking Ahead

I discussed the current shortfall in US ship building capacity compared to China in a previous article on Saronic. This week, we will talk about the the $$$$.

The lifecycle cost of an Arleigh Burke-class destroyer runs between $6–8 billion over 45 years, and has a daily running cost of about $222,000.  This doesn’t include, “an assessment of operational risk… [or] real-world risk to warfighters’ lives,” day in and day out on deployment.

A Saildrone Voyager, on the other hand, costs about $5,173 per day, requires no resupply every 7-10 days, no port calls, and can operate continuously for months.

I am not suggesting the Navy turns all our Destroyers into diving reefs.  The Capabilities aren’t even comparable.  But for lower-end missions? Uncrewed systems offer a way to extend presence and free up high-end ships for what they are built for: deterrence and combat.

As the Navy begins to scale the “Ghost Fleet”, the maintenance burden still exists. And as endurance increases, mechanical wear and sensor maintenance also increases, especially in an environment that is about as harsh as it gets for electronics.

Sustaining these fleets will require a return to submarine tender-like vessels. During the Cold War, the U.S. fielded dozens of such ships capable of repairing, refueling, and rearming submarines; today, only two remain in service.

These kinds of mobile support ships will become critical again, particularly in the Western Pacific. Operational distances stretch thousands of miles and USVs lack the speed to reposition rapidly. We must find other platforms to augment the resupply fleet, potentially looking back to commercial offerings to help fill the gap.

But as the DoD continues to face shipbuilding delays and cost overruns, fielding solutions that can handle 10% of mission requirements at roughly 2–3% of the daily cost are a necessary step in opening up the backlog and regaining maritime superiority.

Challenges

• Electronics Durability: Saltwater corrosion, high humidity, and constant exposure to extreme conditions accelerate degradation of sensitive electronics.

• Speed and Tactical Maneuverability: Platforms may struggle in missions requiring rapid repositioning or high-speed response.

• Unmanned Systems Buy-in: Doctrinal and cultural resistance within the Navy and DoD to handing core mission areas like ASW over to autonomous systems.

Bottom Line:

While Saildrone is not alone in the autonomous maritime space, its focus on endurance, modular payload integration, and operational deployments such as Operation Southern Spear distinguish it from competitors still limited to demo footage.

Saildrone also reflects a reversal of a long-standing innovation dynamic. During the Cold War, technologies like GPS, jet engines, and the internet were developed inside the Department of Defense before migrating to the civilian world.

Now, instead of subsidizing R&D, the DoD can acquire commercially-developed autonomous systems allowing it to return to the core competencies:

Deterrence through presence, and peace through strength.

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1  The views expressed in this newsletter are my own and do not represent the views of the U.S. Navy, Department of Defense, or any government agency. Mention of companies, technologies, or products is not an endorsement or recommendation. The content is for informational purposes only and should not be considered investment advice.