Role & capabilities
- Planned modular naval payload carriage
- Planned maritime sensing
- Planned acoustic-survey support
- Primary domain
- Sea surface
- System type
- Uncrewed surface vessel
- Developer / manufacturer
- Saildrone / Fincantieri Marine Group
- Origin / production countries
- United States
- Other names
- Spectre MUSV
- Variants / configurations
- Spectre Silent Endurance — wing-equipped; Spectre Stealth — wingless
- Operators / programme customers
- No operational customer fleet established in the reviewed sources
Evidence & current status
Concept/announced classification reflects the lack of a completed full-size sea-trial milestone in the reviewed sources. Model tests and approval in principle are not operational certification.
Spectre is a proposed step into a substantially larger class of Saildrone vessel. Announced in April 2026, it is designed around an aluminium hull and a modular payload deck capable of receiving containerised mission equipment. The programme brings Saildrone together with Fincantieri Marine Group for construction and other industrial partners for mission systems.
Two configurations are presented. Silent Endurance includes the large rigid wing, while the wingless Stealth version has different mission priorities. Their names describe proposed configurations rather than separate operational fleets. Diesel and electric propulsion are part of the announced design.
The launch announcement reports model-scale towing-tank work and approval in principle from a classification society. These are design-development milestones, not full-size sea trials or naval acceptance. First-vessel sea trials were scheduled for early 2027. Published speed and range figures have a stated 25-tonne payload condition, whereas the larger headline payload allowance is a different maximum. Those values should not be combined into a single assumed mission performance.
Sourced specifications
Figures apply to the named configuration. Maximum values are not guaranteed operating performance.
| Specification | Reported value | Context & source |
|---|---|---|
| Configuration | Uncrewed naval vessel design; wing-equipped and wingless variants | Supplier-published figure; configuration and operating conditions affect performance. Source |
| Hull / propulsion | Aluminium hull; twin-shaft diesel/electric propulsion | Announced design. Source |
| Dimensions | 52 m length; 3.2 m draft; air draft 43 m with wing or 8 m without | Design figures, not an as-built survey. Source |
| Displacement / mass | 250 tonnes advertised | Announcement does not fully define loading condition. Source |
| Payload | Over 70 metric tonnes maximum | Not the payload used for the quoted speed/range condition. Source |
| Endurance | Not established in the reviewed public sources. | Public data gap; no estimate or neighbouring variant value substituted. Source |
| Range | 3,280 nautical miles at 25 knots; over 8,000 nautical miles at 12 knots | Design figures with 25-tonne payload; not a proven voyage. Source |
| Speed | 27 knots with 25-tonne payload | Conditioned product table value; headline prose also says 'up to 30 knots'. Source |
| Sea state / environment | Not established in the reviewed public sources. | Public data gap; no estimate or neighbouring variant value substituted. Source |
| Sensors | Customer-defined modular sensing payloads planned | Supplier-published figure; configuration and operating conditions affect performance. Source |
| Communications / control | Saildrone remote control and autonomy architecture planned | Supplier-published figure; configuration and operating conditions affect performance. Source |
| Launch / deployment | Not established in the reviewed public sources. | Public data gap; no estimate or neighbouring variant value substituted. Source |
Documented milestones
Design unveiled
Saildrone announced Spectre; first sea trials were planned for early 2027.
Read the announcement
Publication history
- — Added sourced land and maritime coverage with domain-specific evidence and limitations.
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Follow the evidence
Source types identify who makes the claim. Programme milestones and supplier statements should be read in context.
- Spectre design specifications (opens in a new tab)Manufacturer / programme
- Programme announcement, 20 April 2026 (opens in a new tab)Manufacturer / programme
