The biggest maritime-autonomy story of the day. Lockheed Martin and Saildrone disclosed that a Surveyor-class unmanned surface vessel successfully launched two Joint Air-to-Ground Missiles (JAGM) during RIMPAC 2026 near Hawaii. The USV used the Navy’s Adjunct Remote Engagement System for fire control and operated in coordination with the USS Theodore Roosevelt Carrier Strike Group.
The companies also demonstrated passive electronic-warfare capability from the Surveyor, detecting and classifying a surrogate radar threat alongside an MH-60S helicopter. The integration reportedly went from concept to demonstration in only six months.
Why it matters: Saildrone is moving beyond ISR, ocean mapping and maritime-domain awareness into distributed naval firepower. A commercially derived autonomous vessel functioning as a networked weapons node could materially alter Navy distributed maritime operations and create opportunities around payload integration, C2, EW and autonomous targeting.
