Drones and Unmanned Systems - Air, Sea, Land, Micro & Robot Systems

BROWNSVILLE, Texas -- Texas Governor Greg Abbott has announced that unmanned maritime system manufacturer Saronic Technologies has selected Brownsville, Texas, as the location for its next-generation shipyard, Port Alpha. The shipyard is planned to be one of the largest in the United States and feature advanced infrastructure capable of fabricating medium and large autonomous and autonomous-capable naval vessels. As planned, the facility will be able to construct vessels up to 850 ft long, with the potential for future builds over 1,200 ft.

Saronic plans to invest $3.2 billion into building the facility, for which it has been scouting locations extensively in recent years. When completed, Port Alpha will employ a workforce of 10,000. Construction is set to start in 2026, while operations will begin in 2028. The construction site covers 835 acres, with the potential to expand to 4,400 acres.

Saronic produces several unmanned surface vehicles(USVs), including its signature Corsair 24-ft USV, the 180-ft Marauder, and the 52-ft Mirage. Saronic Technologies is one of seven companies shortlisted to participate in the U.S. Navy's Medium USV (MUSV) program's At-Sea demonstration phase. The initialization of construction on the Port Alpha shipyard may positively influence the company's prospects of selection for the Navy's MUSV requirement.

Source: Saronic Technologies
Associated URL: https://medium.com/saronic-technologies/saronic-to-build-port-alpha-americas-next-generation-shipyard-in-brownsville-texas-f71c15565ec6

WASHINGTON -- Blue Water Autonomy and Saildrone have filed a lawsuit against the U.S. Navy following the service's rejection of their joint proposal for the Medium Unmanned Surface Vehicle (MUSV) program, which aims to field autonomous, medium-sized vessels as part of the Navy's broader strategy to build a distributed hybrid fleet. The legal challenge argues that the Navy did not follow its own rules when selecting contenders for the first generation of larger autonomous vessels.

The lawsuit underscores the intensifying competition as the Pentagon accelerates its push to integrate commercial autonomous technologies into military operations. By taking the dispute to federal court, the plaintiffs reportedly seek to force a re-evaluation of the contract awards or halt the program's progression until their grievances are addressed. The legal battle also threatens to delay the Navy's aggressive timeline for deploying these unmanned platforms, which military leadership views as vital for countering peer adversaries.

Source: USNI
Associated URL: https://news.usni.org/2026/07/15/blue-water-autonomy-saildrone-sue-navy-over-musv-rejection

ARLINGTON, Va. -- The U.S. Air Force has achieved a major milestone in its Collaborative Combat Aircraft (CCA) program after an Anduril YFQ-44A successfully fired a live AIM-120 AMRAAM during a recent test over California’s Mojave Desert. The demonstration marked the first end-to-end, beyond-line-of-sight engagement by a developmental CCA, with the drone autonomously executing a strike against a simulated digital target.

The test validates the Air Force’s phased approach, progressing from earlier inert carriage and data-link integration trials toward operational weapon employment. The YFQ-44A, alongside General Atomics’ YFQ-42A, represents the first increment of the Air Force’s CCA effort, which is focused on air-to-air missions. The service ultimately plans to field roughly 1,000 semi-autonomous drones to complement crewed fighters by performing strike, reconnaissance, electronic warfare, communications, and decoy missions. Air Force officials emphasized that human operators will retain full authority over all weapons releases, ensuring CCAs operate within pilot-defined parameters.

Source: Air and Space Forces
Associated URL: https://www.airandspaceforces.com/anduril-yfq-44-fires-live-missile-landmark-cca-test/?_gl=1*1yya1b4*_up*MQ..*_ga*ODg2ODIxMTc4LjE3ODQyMDQ5OTA.*_ga_6ZPT8CC738*czE3ODQyMDQ5OTAkbzEkZzAkdDE3ODQyMDQ5OTAkajYwJGwwJGgxNjcyOTE5NTE.
Author: Stephen Losey