These craft are used by the Navy and by NOAA for long-duration, wind-powered, solar-assisted autonomous missions.
A Saildrone-style USV can:
Operate months at sea with no crew
Use wind for propulsion + solar for electronics
Patrol coastlines
Conduct intelligence, surveillance & reconnaissance (ISR)
Collect meteorological and oceanographic data
Transmit everything via satellite in real time
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A sudden squall shook me awake. I checked the cockpit - forty knots. No mistaking that power..