Contracted to the US Navy for initial testing, SD-3000 is an aluminium Surveyor unmanned surface vehicle (USV) that has been designed to map the seafloor to depths of 11,000 metres.

As humans we know relatively little about vast areas of our ocean. Mapping the open ocean comes with various challenges – not least of all, it requires sophisticated equipment and crew that need to be at sea for long periods of time.

US ocean drone company Saildrone has solved both of these challenges. The most recent vehicle to join its fleet of uncrewed surface vehicles (USVs) is the SD-3000, which, like the rest of the fleet, is powered by renewable wind and solar power. It is designed to scale ocean data collection with a minimum carbon footprint.

Leveraging the advanced manufacturing production techniques of shipbuilder Austal, Saildrone is producing the SD-3000 aluminium Surveyor USVs at the company’s production line in Alabama. Austal is currently producing one Surveyor every six weeks, with the ability...