Navy Awards Saronic Deal for 10 Marauder Vessels

The U.S. Navy has awarded Saronic Technologies a production agreement for 10 Marauder autonomous vessels, following at-sea testing, as part of a broader purchase of 30 unmanned surface vessels from three shipbuilders. The awards mark a move from prototype evaluation to planned production, though the Navy has not disclosed Saronic’s individual agreement value. Saronic announced the Marauder award on September 29. The Navy awarded agreements for 10 vessels each to Saronic, HII and Galliano Marine Services, according to the announcement. The Navy put the average cost at about $40 million per vessel, or roughly $1.2 billion across the 30-vessel buy. That average does not establish the amount assigned to any one company. Saronic said Marauder completed more than 140 test scenarios without failure during eight days of continuous operations. The evaluation included autonomous tracking and maneuvering around other vessels, as well as detecting and following vessels using passive onboard sensors without active radar. Those results are company-reported; the supplied accounts do not provide separate long-term reliability data or establish how the ship will perform in operational service.