Saronic Technologies has been awarded a production contract by the US Navy for its Marauder autonomous unmanned surface vessel (USV).
The MUSV Marketplace is a navy acquisition initiative designed to rapidly field unmanned surface vessels by drawing on mature, commercial-ready technology rather than a traditional multi-year program of record.
In June 2026, the US Navy initially downselected Saronic as one of seven companies to advance Marauder to an at-sea testing phase, positioning the company to compete for a production award under the program.
Under the initiative, Saronic completed an eight-day evaluation of Marauder, during which the vessel operated continuously and completed more than 140 test scenarios. The evaluation included autonomous tracking and maneuvering around various vessels, as well as passive-perception tests.
During the passive-perception tests, the 54.9-meter Marauder detected, tracked and followed other vessels using its onboard passive sensors without active radar. Saronic said the evaluation was conducted using the same platform that is now covered by the Navy’s production contract, with the test scenarios carried out in continuous operations.
“Marauder went from initial design to on-the-water in under a year, and this evaluation demonstrated that the platform holds up under the Navy’s own toughest testing,” said Dino Mavrookas, CEO and Co-Founder of Saronic.
“We’ve now flipped our third Marauder hull, with several more moving through the production line behind it. We can build at that pace because we designed the autonomy, software, hardware, and the production process side-by-side, as one system, rather than bolting them together after the fact. That’s what it means to be a vertically integrated shipbuilder, and it’s why we’ve been able to build and deliver at speed and scale.”
This award builds on Saronic’s existing production contract with the US Navy for Corsair, its 7.3-meter autonomous surface vessel. It also follows the Navy’s recently announced contract awarding Saronic the construction of landing craft utility (LCU) vessels at Port Alpha, the company’s next-generation shipyard in Brownsville, Texas.