Saildrone will deploy 20 of its Voyager USVs in support of 4th Fleet's Operation Southern Spear. (Photo courtesy of Saildrone.)
WASHINGTON — Maritime drone manufacturer Saildrone has received a new task order from the Navy worth $16.3 million to continue their operations in the US Southern Command region into next year, firm representatives told Breaking Defense today.
Saildrone has deployed its Voyager unmanned surface vessels (USVs) to SOUTHCOM dating back to 2023 to support the command’s Joint Interagency Task Force South, which helps detect and monitor narco-traffickers in the region. For example, a Voyager was the type of USV cited in a US Navy press release as having played a pivotal role tracking and identifying a suspicious vessel in the Caribbean in October 2025, according to the firm and the service. US forces eventually interdicted the ship and seized roughly $81 million of cocaine, the Navy said.
Saildrone announced in February 2025 that 20 Voyagers were at sea supporting the Navy in the region. It was not immediately clear if that number will change with the task order extension, which will keep Voyager USVs operating in the Caribbean and the Eastern Pacific into 2027, according to Saildrone.
