Saildrone announced that it will field 10 Explorer unmanned surface vessels during the 2026 hurricane season to support the US National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s hurricane forecasting and resilience efforts.
The latest development builds on the company’s partnership that began in 2021.
During the mission, NOAA will set scientific objectives and task the fleet as tropical systems form, while Saildrone will operate and navigate the USVs to deliver real-time oceanographic and meteorological observations.
The mission will run from July through November. The Explorers will be staged across the western tropical and subtropical Atlantic, the Caribbean Sea and the Gulf of Mexico. Mission operators will work with NOAA to position vehicles in and around developing storms to capture critical measurements.
According to Greg Foltz, an oceanographer at NOAA and one of the principal investigators on the mission:
“This multiyear mission between NOAA and Saildrone is helping to improve our understanding of how hurricanes intensify, including when they strengthen rapidly before landfall. Each storm we observe gives us more data to evaluate and improve prediction models, which is critical for increasing forecast confidence, extending warning lead times, and strengthening the nation’s preparedness for high-impact weather events.”
While Matt Womble, vice president of government relations at Saildrone, added:
“The NOAA hurricane mission is one of Saildrone’s longest-running and most successful partnerships, and also one of the most technically demanding. This mission reinforces the value of mature, long-duration uncrewed systems for operating in environments where persistent data collection is otherwise impossible by traditional means. Better hurricane data supports better forecasts, and better forecasts strengthen national resilience — protecting lives, infrastructure, commerce, and critical operations. Saildrone is tremendously proud to continue this work with NOAA.”
