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Saildrone Announces New USV Class Aimed at Anti-Submarine Warfare
On Monday, Fincantieri announced its U.S. subsidiary, Fincantieri Marine Group, will build the Spectre, a new high-speed, multi-mission unmanned surface vessel developed by California-based Saildrone.
Saildrone Founder and CEO Richard Jenkins said the Spectre is a "good fit for the Navy's new medium USV requirement," which replaces the canceled Modular Attack Surface Craft program.
Fincantieri will build the 170-foot-long vessels at its Green Bay, Wisconsin, shipyard, which can produce five USVs annually at roughly $40 million per unit, Jenkins said.
Optimized for anti-submarine warfare, the Spectre features a concealed payload deck carrying more than 70 metric tonnes, aligning with Chief of Naval Operations Adm. Daryl Caudle's "containerized capability campaign."
Sea trials for the first vessel are expected in early 2027, as Pierroberto Folgiero, Managing Director of Fincantieri, said the "Spectre represents another step towards Fincantieri's transformation" into a system-level integrator.