Denmark deploys AI-powered «Saildrone» for maritime surveillance

After a string of high profile undersea cable «failures» and pipeline explosions in the Baltic Sea lately, the Danes are now deploying four unmanned drones in the Baltic and Northern seas.

The drones, called Voyager by Saildrone, are basically 10 meters long, AI-powered sensor platforms, using a combination of wind and solar energy to stay at sea for a hundred days.

Strategic asset protection
The makers of the Voyager says it can support operations such as illegal fishing detection, border enforcement, and strategic asset protection.

They carry radar, infrared and optical cameras with computer vision, sonar and acoustic monitors, writes AP.

This gives them a «full picture of what’s above and below the surface» for about 30-50 kilometers in the open ocean, according to Saildrone CEO Richard Jenkins, who adds:

Troubled seas
— The Baltic, North Sea, and European Arctic waters are currently facing unprecedented threats. We are very excited to be partnering with the Danish armed forces to deploy Saildrone systems, to help protect Europe’s critical undersea infrastructure and increase regional security.

The deployment is starting out at as a three month trial, with two drones patrolling Danish waters, and two joining a NATO exercise in the eastern Baltic.

The Baltic Sea is one the busiest shipping lanes in the world, with 2 000 ships transiting at any given time, but recent attacks have upped readiness from the countries that border it:

— The security situation in the Baltic is tense, and therefore it has been decided by Danish parliament and the Danish government to improve the capabilities of Danish defence, and this includes the maritime domain and of course this includes our maritime domain awareness, said Kim Jørgensen, the director of the Danish National Armaments according to EuroNews.

Saildrone has been busy
Saildrone has recently made deals with Palantir, Thales and Meta to expand the reach of their tech, and also has several missions with the US Navy for ocean surveillance. They closed a $60 million funding round to bring its tech to Europe in early May.

Read more: Press release from Saildrone, story by AP, and by EuroNews.