Navy Extends Saildrone USVs in SOUTHCOM

The Saildrone Voyager is being used for surface and subsurface surveillance in the Eastern Pacific and Caribbean to assist the U.S. 4th Fleet in its maritime drug interdiction operations, with 21 drones operating in the region as of 2026. Saildrone photo The Navy has awarded Saildrone a $16.3 million extension to continue assisting the U.S. 4th Fleet in its maritime drug interdiction operations, the company announced Tuesday.

Saildrone received the award on June 30, company spokesperson Jenn Virskus told USNI News.

Saildrone’s Voyager unmanned surface vessels have been operating in the Caribbean and Eastern Pacific since 2023, according to a Saildrone release, starting under the Biden administration. They’ve continued under the Trump administration, operating in support of Joint Interagency Task Force South and U.S. Naval Forces Southern Command/U.S. Navy 4th Fleet.

In support of Operation Southern Spear, Saildrone doubled the number of Voyagers in the Eastern Pacific and Caribbean, bringing the total to 20, according to a February 2025 Saildrone release. There are currently 21 operating as part of the mission, Virskus said.

The 33-foot-long unmanned surface vessel can do surface and subsurface surveillance, according to the Saildrone’s release. It can also do near-shore mapping missions.

The Trump administration has taken a two-pronged approach to maritime interdiction. The Navy and other U.S. Southern Command forces, including the Coast Guard, have continued maritime drug interdictions. As an example, Saildrone highlighted an October 2025 instance where Saildrone assisted the Navy in an interdiction that yielded more than $81 million worth of cocaine.

That interdiction came in the middle of the Trump administration’s second approach: strikes on vessels suspected of carrying illicit narcotics. As of Aug. 4, there have been 66 strikes with at least 221 people killed.

There has not been a strike on a vessel since June 21, according to data collected by USNI News.

Strike on a suspected narco boat June 21, 2026, in the Caribbean Sea. US Southern Command image On Monday, U.S. Southern Command announced that Joint Task Force-Southern Spear was transitioning to Joint Task Force-Western Hemisphere.

“JTF-WHEM will build on a legacy of excellence to secure the region and defeat all threats,” reads the SOUTHCOM post on social media site X announcing the change.

The post did not include any additional details, including whether the new task force will differ from Southern Spear in mission. There have not been additional posts about the change.

A Lead Inspector General Report To The United States Congress covering April 1 to June 30 found that drug organizations are using alternate routes in response to the strikes on vessels. This includes land routes or hiding cocaine among legitimate goods in container ships. The organizations absorb the loss from the strikes, reads the report.

Additionally, the strikes have not reduced the flow of cocaine into the country, according to a Drug Enforcement Agency report, closed door Congressional briefings and U.S. officials, The Washington Post reported last week.

However, the drug organizations have adapted to different drug smuggling routes, similar to what the Lead IG report found. The Washington Post did not discuss fentanyl, which the Trump administration has also said is being trafficked by boat.

The Government Accountability Office has found that the majority of fentanyl comes into the United States via passenger vehicles crossing the border from Mexico with supplies to create it coming in from China, USNI News previously reported.