The contract is a $10 million task order for operations in the Atlantic for ocean floor mapping services in support of NAVOCEANO. Surveying operations are scheduled to begin in 2026 and continue through most of 2027 using Saildrone Surveyor unmanned surface vehicles.
With only 28.7% of the world’s oceans mapped to modern standards, high-resolution seafloor imagery appears to remain a priority. Accurate bathymetry supports the safe navigation of manned vessels, enhances operational security in contested environments, safeguards critical infrastructure, and expedites search-and-rescue efforts when lives are at risk.
“High-resolution ocean mapping is vital to the US Navy’s maritime superiority and strategic advantage, enabling safe navigation, effective submarine operations, and fleet lethality,” said Saildrone Sr. Dir. Ocean Mapping Kitch Kennedy, USN Capt. (ret.). “This contract to survey vast regions of the Atlantic Ocean, where traditional survey deployments are long and the conditions are unpredictable, is precisely the type of mission that Saildrone’s autonomous technology was designed to execute.”
Saildrone has been conducting bathymetric surveys for US government customers since 2019.
The Saildrone Surveyor is a 20-meter (65-foot) multi-mission unmanned surface vehicle (USV) designed for long-endurance global missions. Equipped with deep-ocean multibeam sonar, the Surveyor collects high-resolution bathymetric data in remote ocean areas, while also supporting persistent maritime intelligence, surveillance, and reconnaissance (ISR) and distributed, long-endurance power projection.
