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🚀 The United States has demonstrated a new step in unmanned naval warfare after Lockheed Martin and Saildrone successfully launched two AGM-179 JAGM missiles from a Saildrone Surveyor unmanned surface vessel during RIMPAC 2026 near Hawaii.
⚓ In this DefenseWebTV report, we examine how the 20-meter Surveyor USV was equipped with a dual JAGM launcher and integrated with the U.S. Navy’s Adjunct Remote Engagement System, allowing the unmanned vessel to receive targeting information from other assets and engage a surrogate high-speed surface target.
🎯 The demonstration highlights a key element of the U.S. Navy’s distributed warfare strategy: separating sensors, command-and-control systems, and missile launchers across a wider network. Instead of relying exclusively on crewed destroyers and other major warships, unmanned platforms could increasingly serve as forward-deployed surveillance and firing nodes.
🛡️ The AGM-179 JAGM uses a dual-mode seeker combining semi-active laser guidance with millimeter-wave radar, giving it the ability to engage moving targets. While its approximately 8-kilometer range is relatively short for naval warfare, the RIMPAC test focused primarily on proving networked targeting and remote engagement from an unmanned platform.
🌊 Saildrone’s Surveyor is designed for endurance rather than speed, with the ability to remain deployed for up to 100 days between maintenance stops. This could allow armed versions to remain positioned near strategic maritime approaches, amphibious operating areas, or carrier strike groups while providing persistent surveillance and limited defensive firepower.
🚢 The concept could eventually expand much further with Saildrone’s larger Spectre-class USV. The 52-meter platform is being considered for heavier containerized payloads, including Lockheed Martin’s Mk 70 launcher, potentially opening the door to Standard-family or Tomahawk missiles and significantly increasing the distributed missile capacity of future U.S. naval forces.
🌏 Such capabilities could become particularly important in the Indo-Pacific, where the U.S. Navy is looking for ways to distribute sensors and weapons across a larger number of platforms while reducing the exposure of crewed warships inside increasingly contested maritime environments.
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