The U.S Navy has chosen Saronic and awarded the company $392 million to build and deliver autonomous drone boats, in one of the Navy’s biggest Other Transaction Authority agreements for maritime unmanned systems.

Around $200 million has already been allocated, per the Secretary of the Navy John C. Phelan.

This reflects a push to ramp up procurement cycles and get unmanned ships into the fleet faster than the usual acquisition timelines allow.

Saronic will deliver its Corsair-class Autonomous Surface Vessel, the biggest in its unmanned maritime systems lineup.

The 24-foot ship will have a 1000 nm range, a 1000 pound payload capacity and can attain a speed of over 35 knots.

Corsair will support maritime domain awareness, surveillance operations and much more. It will extend the reach of manned vessels while reducing risk for U.S naval personnel.

Saronic, based in Austin, is a non-traditional defence company which focuses on fully autonomous maritime systems which function as distributed nodes in a manned-unmanned teaming ecosystem.

It constructs platforms for intelligence gathering, surveillance operations, electronic warfare, low -signature maneuvers and reconnaissance.

The Other Transaction Authority (OTA) framework enables the Navy to bypass parts of the
Federal Acquisition Regulation.

The OTA frameworks allow moving from prototype to deployment in a few months, rather than years, which is why they are being preferred now.

The Navy has not released details on the number of ships being built, or their specific configurations or deployment periods.

This agreement is significant as it is one of the biggest OTA production contracts awarded in the maritime autonomy sector.

It is a milestone in the Navy’s effort to build a hybrid fleet with conventional warships with a crew and several smaller, faster and highly advanced unmanned systems.