The Navy will buy 30 medium uncrewed ships, ten each from Galliano Marine Services, HII and Saronic, at an average of $40 million a vessel. It announced the three production agreements on 29 September, after the ships passed tests at sea.
The Navy gave no total. Thirty ships at its average price come to $1.2 billion. The awards are other transaction agreements, a faster route than a standard contract, and Saronic says its own is at a fixed price. The first ships are due before the end of fiscal 2027, on 30 September 2027.
“Our warfighters don’t have time to wait on bureaucracy,” said Hung Cao, the acting Secretary of the Navy.
Three different ships
Saronic’s Marauder is 180 feet long. Saronic says it carries up to 150 tonnes in shipping containers and sails 5,400 nautical miles on a light load. HII’s ROMULUS runs on HII’s own autonomy software, and HII says one covered 420 nautical miles in 28 hours during the tests. Galliano, a Louisiana shipbuilder, has not published its design.
Building starts at yards in Loreauville, Houma and Franklin, Louisiana, Chris Miller told reporters. He runs the Navy’s robotic and autonomous systems office in an acting role.
Three more in the catalogue
Leidos, PacMar and Sea Machines also finished the tests but won no production order. Each gets $15 million under its prototype agreement. All six companies join a Pentagon catalogue on Drones.mil, from which any buying office in the department can order more ships.
Two companies left out earlier, Saildrone and Blue Water Autonomy, have sued the Navy, saying they were excluded unfairly, Military Times reported.
The Navy opened a second round on 23 September. Miller said it drops the first round’s high-speed and refuelling-at-sea requirements, so he can keep “a healthy competitive industrial base”.
