AUSTAL Australia has partnered with an uncrewed surface vessel specialist to build a Saildrone Surveyor USV in Australia.
Working under a teaming agreement, Austal Australia and Saildrone will look for opportunities to collaborate on manufacturing the USV locally, for deployment in the Indo-Pacific region.
The 20-metre-long Saildrone Surveyor USV is designed for deep ocean mapping and intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance applications above and below the surface.
Saildrone is based in the United States but plans to establish Saildrone Australia this year following a successful partnership with Austal USA.
Austal CEO Paddy Gregg highlighted the teaming agreement as an opportunity for Austal Australia and Saildrone to collaborate.
“This agreement allows us to bring Saildrone Surveyor manufacturing to Australia, building in parallel with Austal USA,” he said.
“This increases our ability to rapidly scale to meet the demands we anticipate in the Indo-Pacific region.
“This industry-leading technology complements our work in the Patrol Boat Autonomy Trial and strengthens our capabilities overall in the autonomous naval vessel market.”
And Saildrone founder and CEO Richard Jenkins, an Australian national, was pleased to bring technology, innovation and investment back to Australia.
“I am very excited to have Austal Australia as a partner and to explore the possibilities to put our vehicles to work for Australia and our partners in the wider Indo-Pacific region,” he said.
Saildrone claims to have amassed nearly one million miles and 25,000 days at sea with a 120-strong fleet of USVs.
