Sweden has selected Saildrone to operate four unmanned surface vehicles of the USV type as part of a 360-day surveillance mission over its territorial waters and exclusive economic zone in the Baltic Sea. As noted by Naval Today, this will be Sweden's first deployment of surface drones as part of the NORDEFCO (North European Defense Cooperation) initiative, which allows participating states to quickly purchase Saildrone's maritime awareness services. Additional deployments are expected under this mechanism.
NORDEFCO unites Denmark, Finland, Iceland, Norway, Sweden and other Northern European countries to simplify defense cooperation and implement proven regional security solutions. Saildrone's Voyager fleet will continuously patrol Swedish territorial waters, transmitting real-time intelligence directly to the Swedish Armed Forces.
Sweden has chosen unmanned Saildrone boats
Saildrone
Saildrone acts as a management company: it maintains, deploys and assigns tasks to the vehicles, allowing Sweden to maintain constant awareness of the maritime situation without involving additional ships with crews.
"In principle, we are not talking about four unmanned vessels, but about access to continuous intelligence collection at sea. In other words, we are buying a permanent maritime surveillance service, and Saildrone provides vessels that supply the fleet with data," said Johan Vaaren, project manager at the Swedish Defense Procurement Authority (FMV).
"This mission highlights Saildrone's growing presence in Northern Europe," said Robert Klaist, Managing Director of Saildrone's European office. – Sweden invests in year-round awareness of the marine environment as an operational opportunity. The NORDEFCO mechanism gives the Nordic countries a common tool to access this opportunity, allowing each country to define and lead its own mission."
Saildrone supported defense and security missions in regions from the Baltic Sea and the Far North to the Southern Ocean and the Middle East.
The company recently registered four Voyager devices in Denmark. In the coming weeks, Saildrone Europe plans to connect additional devices to the European security mission.
The Voyager unmanned boat is a 10–meter platform designed for long-term coastal surveillance, seabed mapping and maritime safety. The main power plant is an electric motor, the additional propulsion is a sail.
The drones' autonomy reaches 100 days between service stops. According to some reports, under favorable conditions, the period can reach 180 days.
The cruising speed during mapping is 5 knots. Wind and solar energy is used for movement, and an electric motor is used in calm weather or near the shore.
A typical set of equipment for unmanned boats may include:
- For surface surveillance: marine radar, AIS transponder, infrared camera with rotary device (PTZ) and passive acoustic sensors.
- For bottom mapping: a multipath echo sounder (MBES) capable of operating at depths up to 300 meters, and a bottom profiler for studying the upper layers of the soil.
- Communication: Provided via satellite channels (including Starlink) and radio communication.
