Saildrone, based in the United States, will also establish Saildrone Australia this year to cater for Australian commercial and government contracts and work in the broader Indo-Pacific Region.

“It is fantastic to be bringing technology, innovation, and investment back to Australia, and specifically to my home city of Perth,” said Saildrone founder and chief executive officer Richard Jenkins.

“I am very excited to have Austal Australia as a partner and to explore the possibilities to put our vehicles to work for Australia and our partners in the wider Indo-Pacific region.”

The company had entered a strategic partnership with Austal USA in August last year to construct Saildrone Surveyor USVs at Austal USA’s shipyard in Alabama.

Austal Limited chief executive officer Paddy Gregg said it was a logical move for Austal Australia and Saildrone to collaborate.

“This agreement allows us to bring Saildrone Surveyor manufacturing to Australia, building in parallel with Austal USA,” Mr Gregg said.

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“This increases our ability to rapidly scale to meet the demands we anticipate in the Indo-Pacific region.

“This industry-leading technology complements our work in the Patrol Boat Autonomy Trial and strengthens our capabilities overall in the autonomous naval vessel market.”

Robert Dougherty

Robert is a senior journalist who has previously worked for Seven West Media in Western Australia, as well as Fairfax Media and Australian Community Media in New South Wales. He has produced national headlines, photography and videography of emergency services, business, community, defence and government news across Australia. Robert graduated with a Bachelor of Arts, Majoring in Public Relations and Journalism at Curtin University, attended student exchange program with Fudan University and holds Tier 1 General Advice certification for Kaplan Professional. Reach out via email at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. or via LinkedIn.