US Navy increases Gecko Robotics contract to $300 million — Defense News

The US Navy has increased the maximum value of its contract with Gecko Robotics for the use of artificial intelligence and robotic systems in ship maintenance to $300 million. Defense News reports.

The initial five-year contract provided for up to $54 million for work on 18 ships of the US Pacific Fleet. The company uses drones, robots capable of moving along vertical surfaces, as well as stationary sensors to collect data on ship components, decks, welds, and hulls.

AI for detecting defects

The collected information is combined with artificial intelligence tools to identify existing and potential structural problems that may go unnoticed during a routine inspection. Gecko Robotics said its technologies can save the US Navy up to $8 million in repairs per ship and speed up the detection of structural defects by up to 50 times compared with traditional methods.

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According to the company's estimate, this could reduce inspections from months to several days and return ships to service faster. These calculations are Gecko Robotics' claim.

Planning repairs before dry docking

An important part of the expanded contract is the Komodo system, which scans the condition of deck coating without the need to physically remove it. This will allow the US Navy to identify damaged areas and plan repairs before a ship enters dry dock. Previously, such planning and damage mapping were carried out only after the maintenance cycle had begun.

The US Navy seeks to achieve 80% fleet readiness by 2027. Chief of Naval Operations Adm. Daryl Caudle noted that this requires shorter repair cycles, greater availability of spare parts, improved personnel training, and targeted fleet modernization.