Bombardier, also known as BRP and the innovators of the Sea-Doo, have led the market since the concept of a 'personal watercraft' first broke into the mainstream in 1968. 57 years later, the company and its namesakes are discussing a conceptual PWC that could redefine everything we know about personal watercraft and their uses.

On April 16th, Sea-Doo Board Director and Innovation Architect Charles Bombardier asked his followers on Linkedin "could a personal watercraft shaped drone redefine border surveillance?"

What followed was a breakdown of the Sea-Drone 88, or SD-88, that BRP has clearly invested brainpower into developing.

The SD-88 is an autonomous, electric, stealth watercraft that takes the DNA of a recreational Sea-Doo and re-imagines it as a non-commercial vessel for some of the world's most challenging work.

Quite frankly, the SD-88 isn't about having a good time on your local waterway. It's intended for serious surveillance and patrol.

At its core, the SD-88 is designed to be compact, modular, remotely deployable, and unmanned. According to Charles on his LinkedIn post, "this unmanned platform could transform how nations protect their territory. With Canada’s renewed focus on Arctic sovereignty and increased defense investment, revisiting the Sea-Drone concept feels both timely and strategically aligned."

The SD-88 is based on Sea-Doo's high-end RXT-X, which has a supercharged 325 horsepower Rotax engine and some of the best performance in the PWC market. The RXT-X is the most powerful PWC that Sea-Doo makes and has a top speed of roughly 125 km/h (77 mph). The company also calls its ST3 Hull one of the most stable designs they've ever put into production.

The recreational RXT-X has a total length of 136" (11'4"), a width of 49" (4'), a height of 45" (3'8"), and a dry weight of 842 lbs (381 kg). It's not 'small' in PWC terms, but it's incredibly small in terms of marine surveillance.

In other words, while the RXT-X is a premium offering from the longest standing PWC maker in the world, the SD-88 is the perfect platform to be re-envisioned as a stealthy marine drone.

In Bombardier's LinkedIn post, he envisions this re-engineering by stripping away the conventional recreational components to make room for autonomous technology. The seats and handlebars would be removed to create a platform across the top deck for surveillance equipment like thermal imaging cameras, satellites, or LTE communication relays.

Instead of a noisy gas-powered engine, the SD-88 would use electric or hybrid propulsion, and the hull would be comprised of a reinforced impact-resistant Kevlar. The stern could also be modified with towing gear or a modular payload bay for hauling equipment between locations and personnel.

The company envisions three variants -- the SD-88 Tactical, SD-44 Arctic, and SD-COMMS -- which based on their names are specialized in accordance with mission parameters. The 88 Tactical would be for border patrol and night surveillance. The 44 Arctic would be 'cold-adapted' to withstand harsher climates like an ice-resilient hull and long range communications. And the COMMS package would essentially be a mobile communications relay that could be placed anywhere, and moved around remotely, to link communications between long distances.

One of the most prominent aspects of the rapid development of autonomous drone technology is the necessity to launch it quickly and quietly under any conditions. The SD-88 could carry the same benefits by being deployable from trailers, ships, or shore stations by a single person or small team. It could conceivably be launched autonomously using a modified trailer or vehicle unit that responds to remote commands.

There are other possibilities for the SD-88, too, aside from simply being a clandestine surveillance machine.

Bombardier mentions it being outfitted with things like 'non-lethal deterrents' that include flares or smoke canisters. It could also be equipped with electronic warfare tools for localized jamming or interference around private property or sensitive border lines. It could even be employed as a laser target designator, meaning it could coordinate with its operator(s) to identify objects or landmarks that require another boat or team to investigate.

Above all, the SD-88 would reduce the need for human patrols in dangerous locations since it could quietly and continuously nearly anywhere. As Bombardier sees it, this would make it an ideal candidate for things like border monitoring at the Rio Grande or southern Mexico, along the St. Lawrence waterway that divides Canada and the U.S., or even along the Bering Strait. It could also have conservationist applications like performing wildlife protection in marine reserve, or running surveillance missions of keynote species in the Arctic and Great Lakes.

Bombardier sums up their potential for the SD-88 by saying that they can offer "a cost-effective, low-risk, and adaptable platform" that would "complement aerial and terrestrial surveillance assets while enabling new types of missions." Whatever becomes of the SD-88, one thing is for sure: the future of PWCs is about to take a serious turn.