Navy robot deal quadruples as US looks to ‘outsmart’ China with AI at sea

U.S. Navy Boosts Funding for AI‑Driven Ship‑Inspection Robots to $300 Million

The U.S. Navy has increased the ceiling of a five‑year contract with Pittsburgh‑based Gecko Robotics from $71 million to $300 million, a move that quadruples the program’s funding and expands the use of the company’s AI‑powered inspection robots across the fleet. The decision, announced early this month, comes as the Navy seeks to tighten maintenance schedules and keep more warships ready for deployment while a Chinese‑led shipbuilding surge widens a growing fleet gap.

A Rapidly Expanding Fleet Needs Smarter Maintenance

The Navy’s fleet is aging and, at the same time, China is producing a larger naval force at a faster pace than U.S. shipyards can match. To bridge the gap, Pentagon planners are focusing on keeping the ships that are already in service operational for longer periods. “The biggest savings are just in speed,” Gecko CEO Jake Loosararian told reporters. “You can’t put a price tag on it, especially if you’re in the U.S. Navy right now.”

Gecko Robotics’ robots crawl along hulls, flight decks, ballast tanks and other hard‑to‑reach areas, scanning for corrosion, metal loss and other structural problems. Their data is fed into Gecko’s AI platform, Cantilever, which helps planners pinpoint where repairs are needed before a ship heads into a major maintenance cycle. Loosararian said the technology can identify structural issues up to 50 times faster than traditional methods and can reduce repair costs by up to $8 million on a single vessel.

The New “Komodo” Robot

The expanded contract also covers a new robot, dubbed Komodo, designed to inspect the steel beneath thick, non‑skid deck coatings without stripping the surface. “It’s essentially a CAT scan,” Loosararian explained. “You’re basically understanding exactly what’s going on.”

Traditionally, crews would have to remove portions of a deck to assess corrosion underneath, a process that can take weeks and delay repairs. Komodo uses advanced sensing to map corrosion and material thickness, giving maintenance teams a clear picture of what needs fixing before more invasive work begins. In one example, initial estimates of 1,200 square feet of repair work were cut to roughly 300 square feet after robotic inspections provided a more precise assessment. “You reduce and focus the kinds of repairs that you need,” the CEO added.

How the Contract Works

The original agreement, announced in March, gave Gecko a five‑year vehicle to expand its robotic inspection platform across 18 ships in the U.S. Pacific Fleet, including destroyers, amphibious warships and littoral combat ships. The new ceiling will allow the company to deploy its systems on more vessels and extend the program’s reach beyond the initial ships.

Beyond identifying existing damage, Loosararian envisions using accumulated inspection data to predict future failures. “You are able to predict exactly what’s going to break before it does,” he said, allowing planners to pre‑allocate labor, materials and repair schedules. This predictive capability could also reduce the amount of dangerous, labor‑intensive inspection work performed by shipyard crews—an important consideration as the U.S. industrial base faces skilled‑labor shortages.

Strategic Context

Navy leaders have set a goal of 80 % fleet readiness, a target that has been challenged by maintenance delays. By accelerating inspections and reducing repair times, the program seeks to keep more ships at sea and available for deployment. In a broader strategic sense, the Navy’s emphasis on “outsmarting” rather than “out‑manufacturing” reflects a belief that technology can offset China’s production advantages. “While the U.S. may not be able to out‑manufacture faster than China, we can outsmart the ways that we maintain, operate and are ready with our vessels,” Loosararian reiterated.

Looking Ahead

The $300 million ceiling gives Gecko Robotics room to refine its technology, expand its robot fleet, and explore further applications of AI in naval maintenance. While the U.S. still lags behind China in ship‑building throughput, smarter maintenance practices may help bridge the readiness gap and keep the U.S. Navy’s existing vessels as effective as possible in the coming years.