PAJU CITY, South Korea – U.S. Army Soldiers assigned to 814th Engineer Company, 11th Engineer Battalion, 2nd Infantry ROK-U.S. Combined Division, test the JaiaBot, an aquatic drone, March 11, 2025 at a training area near Paju City, South Korea.

The robotics engineers with Jaia Robotics, conducted a hands-on demonstration of the JaiaBot as part of Freedom Shield 25, showcasing its capabilities in data collection and payload delivery. The drone can operate at full speed for up to eight hours or remain stationary for extended periods to gather data.

Cpt. Owen Matthews, commander of the 814th Engineer Company, highlighted the potential benefits of the JaiaBot for bridging units when conducting a site reconnaissance.

“This drone could be an asset for speeding up the process of assessing the suitability for the site,” Matthews said.

Matthews said the JaiaBot allows you to be in multiple places at once more easily with less manpower. It reduces the risk to Soldiers by putting robots in the water instead of people.

Nick Marshall, a robotics engineer at Jaia Robotics, prioritized functionality, tailored for military use when designing the drone.

“We designed it to be open-source and modular,” he said. “Most of the exterior is 3D-printed, and it runs on components like Raspberry Pi and Arduino boards, making it easy to modify for different mission requirements.”

While the drone appears easy to operate, Matthews said some additional training may be required for Soldiers to integrate the technology into their operations but added the learning curve would be minimal.

Marshall said that future upgrades could include improved motors for increased speed as well as software enhancements to improve navigation and survivability in challenging environments.

(U.S. Army Photos by U.S. Army Pfc. Wilfred Salters)