Lockheed Martin invests $50 million into Saildrone, a sea drone manufacturer, to equip its largest surveillance drones with high-powered missiles. This marks the first time that the autonomous long-distance ships will be equipped with high-powered missiles.

The Pentagon announced its weaponization plan on Wednesday as it sought to counter China's increasing naval power in Asia and apply lessons learned by Ukraine from the effective use of explosives-laden sea drones used against Russian warships at the Black Sea.

Under the deal, Saildrone's 72-foot-long (22 m) "Surveyor" ship - a scientific data and intelligence-gathering autonomous vessel powered by wind, diesel, and solar - will be modified to carry Lockheed's JAGM Quad Launcher missile system and anti-ship missiles, according to a joint statement.

Lockheed will invest in collaborative systems integration teams that will accelerate the design and manufacture of larger Saildrone platform capable of carrying Tomahawk missiles with longer ranges and towed arrays for detecting submarines.

In 2026, the companies plan to demonstrate live fire on water.

The U.S. Navy has been using Saildrones for surveillance missions since 2021. They are now operational "24/7/365 along with American Sailors on combat theatres around the globe," according to a statement. Over 2 million nautical mile have been logged by the company on customer missions.

Many firms are competing for a share of the $5 billion allocated for unmanned ships and maritime robotics under the "Big Beautiful Bill".

Saildrone's shipbuilding duties will be maintained while Lockheed takes on the role of mission integrator. The development work will create new jobs at Austal USA, located on the Gulf of Mexico, where Saildrone produces its larger systems. However, the companies say that the work can eventually be scaled up to other U.S. Shipyards. (Reporting from Mike Stone in Washington, with additional reporting by David Jeans and Jamie Freed.)

(source: Reuters)