Gecko Robotics is partnering with Anduril Industries to bring robotic inspection and artificial intelligence software into submarine manufacturing as the U.S. pushes to expand naval production capacity.
The companies said Thursday they will deploy Gecko’s robotic inspection technology and data platform across Anduril’s growing maritime manufacturing operation, including its planned Arsenal-2 shipyard in Baltimore County, Maryland.
The partnership comes just days after Anduril outlined a $3.7 billion investment in Arsenal-2, a new facility designed to produce components for the U.S. Navy’s Virginia-class submarines. The Navy also awarded Anduril a contract worth up to $2.9 billion for submarine component production, putting the potential value of the investment and agreement at as much as $6.6 billion.
Automating a Manufacturing Bottleneck
The companies are targeting one of the less visible constraints in submarine production: inspection.
Gecko’s technology uses robotics, artificial intelligence and non-destructive testing, or NDT, to automate inspections that can otherwise depend on specialized workers and manual processes. Gecko said its systems have reduced inspection times for forged components by as much as 90% in work with defense customers.
The company said its software also allows workers without prior NDT experience to be trained more quickly, potentially expanding the pool of people who can perform inspections as manufacturers try to increase output.
"The challenge facing our nation isn’t a lack of engineering talent or innovation, its industrial capacity," Troy Demmer, Gecko’s co-founder and president, said.
Demmer pointed to manual processes, fragmented information and shortages of specialized workers as constraints that can slow production even as demand for defense equipment rises.
Bill Noderer, Anduril’s vice president and general manager for shipbuilding, said Gecko’s technology is already being used at Anduril’s Orange County, California, protofactory, where the company is producing submarine components.
Building a Digital Trail for Submarine Parts
Anduril is expanding its California manufacturing operation as it prepares for the larger Maryland facility. The company is producing Virginia-class submarine components in California, including torpedo tubes, and expects Arsenal-2 to eventually manufacture larger sections such as modules and hull components.
Gecko’s inspection data is expected to feed into Anduril’s software systems, creating what the companies described as a "digital thread" that follows components from manufacturing through their operational lives.
That could give the partnership a role beyond speeding up factory inspections. The companies said a persistent record of inspection and asset data could eventually help with maintenance planning and reduce unexpected repairs and downtime.
The push comes as the U.S. Navy faces pressure to expand submarine production and modernize an industrial base that has struggled with capacity constraints.
Anduril’s Arsenal-2 is expected to begin operating by the end of the decade and generate about 3,100 direct jobs, with more than 11,000 additional jobs supported indirectly, according to the company’s plans.
The partnership with Gecko gives Anduril another piece of the manufacturing stack as it tries to build a faster, more software-driven approach to producing submarine hardware.
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