Navy Awards $71 Million Contract for Wall‑Climbing Robot Ship Inspections
The U.S. Navy has awarded a five‑year, $71 million contract vehicle to Pittsburgh‑based Gecko Robotics to deploy swarms of wall‑climbing, AI‑enabled inspection robots on warships, starting with 18 vessels in the Pacific Fleet. The systems scale hulls, flight decks and other hard‑to‑reach steel surfaces to scan for corrosion, metal fatigue and weld defects, feeding millions of data points into a digital platform designed to flag problems earlier and reduce time in drydock. Navy and industry sources say only about 60% of U.S. ships are currently operational as maintenance backlogs and a shortage of skilled shipyard workers sideline a large share of the fleet, even as China fields an estimated 370–390 warships and submarines and vastly outbuilds the U.S. in overall tonnage. The initial work will focus on destroyers, amphibious warships and littoral combat ships that are central to Indo‑Pacific operations, and the contract mechanism allows other U.S. military services to buy into the technology. Naval leadership has set a target of 80% fleet readiness by 2027, and this push into AI‑driven maintenance reflects growing concern in Washington that U.S. industrial and repair capacity is falling behind China’s rapidly expanding, state‑backed shipbuilding sector.
📌 Key Facts
- The Navy has created a $71 million, five‑year contract vehicle with Gecko Robotics, with an initial award of up to $54 million.
- Gecko’s wall‑climbing robots will begin inspecting 18 ships in the U.S. Pacific Fleet, focusing on destroyers, amphibious ships and littoral combat ships.
- Industry estimates cited in the article say only about 60% of U.S. Navy ships are operational at any given time due to maintenance backlogs.
- China now fields roughly 370–390 warships and submarines versus about 300 for the U.S. Navy and has far greater shipbuilding capacity by tonnage.
- The chief of naval operations has set a goal of raising fleet readiness to 80% by 2027.
📊 Relevant Data
In 2024, 67 percent of U.S. Navy warship maintenance was completed on time, up from 41 percent in 2023 and 36 percent in previous years.
U.S. Navy — The Heritage Foundation
The attrition rate for the average worker in U.S. shipyards is 20 to 22 percent, and in some critical trades such as welding and electrical work, it can be as high as 40 percent.
Navy, Industry Try to Reverse Course on Workforce Woes (UPDATED) — National Defense Magazine
In the U.S. shipbuilding and repairing industry, 18% of the workforce identifies as Black or African American (compared to 13% of the U.S. population), 13% as Hispanic or Latino (compared to 19% of the U.S. population), and 6% as Asian (compared to 6% of the U.S. population).
Diversity, Equity, And Inclusion In The Shipbuilding Industry Statistics — WiFi Talents
Causes of U.S. Navy ship maintenance delays include aging of the fleet, late inspections and contract awards, unexpected additional work, contract negotiations, and delays in obtaining parts and materials.
CBO Report on Navy Ship Maintenance — USNI News
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