dChan - Q Origins Project Archive

Lockheed Martin Invests $50 Million in Saildrone to Arm Unmanned Surface Vessels

Mike Schuler October 29, 2025

Lockheed Martin announced a $50 million investment in Saildrone to integrate lethal defense systems onto the company’s unmanned surface vessels, with plans for live fire demonstrations in 2026.

The collaboration will combine Lockheed Martin’s combat-proven weapons systems with Saildrone’s commercially tested autonomous platforms to deliver armed USVs for the U.S. Navy. Initial work will focus on integrating Lockheed Martin’s JAGM Quad Launcher system onto the Saildrone Surveyor platform. Development of larger Saildrone vehicles is already underway to accommodate heavier payloads, including the Lockheed Martin Mk70 VLS launcher and thin line towed arrays.

Stephanie C. Hill, president of Rotary and Mission Systems at Lockheed Martin, said the partnership answers President Trump’s call for the defense industry to “act differently and leverage the strength of all of industry for our national defense.” She added that the companies are “combining the most sophisticated commercial and defense technologies to deliver a lethal naval solution at speed and scale.”

Saildrone’s unmanned vessels have been operating commercially since 2013 and were first deployed by the U.S. Navy in 2021. They are currently operational in combat theaters worldwide. Under the agreement, Saildrone will maintain shipbuilding responsibilities while Lockheed Martin serves as lead mission integrator.

“For the last 10 years, we have focused on evolving the reliability, endurance, and autonomy of the Saildrone platform, which has been demonstrated in over 2 million nautical miles of active customer missions,” said Richard Jenkins, founder and CEO of Saildrone. The collaboration will enable Saildrone to add electronic warfare, anti-submarine warfare, surveillance and reconnaissance, and kinetic capabilities, all integrated with Lockheed Martin’s command, control, and fire control systems.”

Production of larger Saildrone platforms will create jobs at Austal USA on the Gulf Coast, though the companies noted the work is shipyard-agnostic and could expand to other American shipyards as the program scales.

The investment aims to accelerate deployment of autonomous maritime capabilities for fleet defense, undersea surveillance, reconnaissance, and attack missions. The companies are focusing on integrating ready-now technologies with an open architecture approach to deliver operational capability as quickly as possible.

https://gcaptain.com/lockheed-martin-invests-50-million-in-saildrone-to-arm-unmanned-surface-vessels/

U.S. Military Conducts Three Strikes in Eastern Pacific, Mexico Leads Rescue of Sole Survivor

Mike Schuler October 28, 2025

President Trump’s Department of War carried out three lethal strikes on four vessels in the Eastern Pacific on Monday, killing 14 people and leaving one survivor whose rescue is being coordinated by Mexican authorities.

Secretary of War Pete Hegseth announced the operations on social media, stating that the strikes targeted vessels “operated by Designated Terrorist Organizations (DTO) trafficking narcotics in the Eastern Pacific.” The vessels were identified through intelligence and were transiting known narco-trafficking routes carrying narcotics.

The first strike killed eight individuals aboard a vessel, followed by a second strike that killed four more. A third strike resulted in three deaths and one survivor. All strikes occurred in international waters with no U.S. forces harmed.

Following the third strike, USSOUTHCOM initiated standard Search and Rescue protocols. Mexican SAR authorities accepted the case and assumed responsibility for coordinating the rescue of the survivor.

In his statement, Hegseth said: “The Department has spent over TWO DECADES defending other homelands. Now, we’re defending our own. These narco-terrorists have killed more Americans than Al-Qaeda, and they will be treated the same. We will track them, we will network them, and then, we will hunt and kill them.”

The strikes represent an expansion of the administration’s military campaign against drug trafficking organizations. Since early September, more than 10 strikes have killed at least five dozen alleged “narco-terrorists.” Last week marked the first known operations in the Eastern Pacific, expanding beyond Venezuela and surrounding waters.

The Pentagon has justified the operations under a determination that the United States is engaged in a “non-international armed conflict” with transnational drug cartels. President Trump told reporters this week: “I think we’re just going to kill people that are bringing drugs into our country. OK? We’re going to kill them.”

Secretary Hegseth has ordered the Gerald R. Ford Carrier Strike Group to the U.S. Southern Command region to “reinforce operations against transnational criminal organizations.” The deployment adds to a Caribbean already crowded with U.S. destroyers, a nuclear submarine, and fighter jets.

The military effort runs parallel to the Coast Guard’s Operation Pacific Viper, which since August has seized over 100,000 pounds of cocaine across 34 interdictions resulting in 86 arrests. However, most seaborne narcotics shipments reach the United States via the Pacific, not the Atlantic, where U.S. forces are concentrated.

https://gcaptain.com/u-s-military-conducts-three-strikes-in-eastern-pacific-mexico-leads-rescue-of-sole-survivor/

Nowfags might not count those strikes as booms, but I'm sure the ones on the receiving end of that ordnance would had they not been converted to baloney mist

>>23786924

Vessel DALI had previous problems with electrical switchboard. Shipping companies are not known for rigorous shipboard maintenance

But hey, DALI had mostly Indian crew, right?

Hmmmm…

India Targets Fake Seafarer Training Certificates in Sudden Crackdown

The country's shipping directorate is hitting back at fraud, and by extension, at exploitative crewing practices

Published Jul 21, 2025 7:52 PM by The Maritime Executive

India's shipping directorate is cracking down on the age-old problem of fake seafarer training certificates, sourced from low-quality foreign registries and sold to Indian mariners by crewing agents. Indian officers and engineers who hold such documents will be banned from sailing, and the agents who market the credentials will likely lose their licenses to do business.

Unlike domestic-focused employment markets like the U.S. - where virtually all mariners obtain U.S. Coast Guard-issued licenses and work within the U.S. registry - Indian nationals can get their STCW certifications outside of India if they plan to sail foreign-flag (as about 80% do). They can get their licenses at another flag administration, then sail on a foreign ship by working with a Recruitment and Placement Service License (RPSL) crewing agency. That arrangement is common enough, but it breaks down when the documentation is fraudulently issued to personnel who are not in fact qualified.

More:

https://maritime-executive.com/article/india-targets-fake-seafarer-training-certificates-in-sudden-crackdown

The International Maritime Organization is far more concerned with "decarbonizing" global shipping because of "climate change"

Industry Voices Disappointment and Concern as IMO Postpones Global Shipping Carbon Tax Vote

Mike Schuler October 17, 2025

Governments at the International Maritime Organization decided to postpone for one year the adoption of what would have been the world’s first global carbon pricing system on international shipping at the Extraordinary Session of the Marine Environment Protection Committee in London this week. The delay follows pressure and procedural tactics from the United States, Saudi Arabia, and other countries, pushing the adoption vote to October 2026.

More:

https://gcaptain.com/industry-voices-disappointment-and-concern-as-imo-postpones-global-shipping-carbon-tax-vote/