The U.S. Navy increased the potential value of its ship-maintenance contract with Gecko Robotics to $300 million, the company announced Tuesday. The increase came six months after a five-year, $54 million indefinite-delivery, indefinite-quantity agreement covering 18 ships in the Navy’s U.S. Pacific Fleet. The Gecko Robotics contract includes the company’s Komodo machine system for ship inspections.
What it means
Gecko Robotics uses drones, wall-climbing robots and fixed sensors to collect information on ship components, decks, welds and hulls. Its artificial-intelligence tools assess existing structural conditions and identify potential issues.
Komodo examines deck-coating condition through scans that do not require crews to dig into the coating. The Navy can use inspection data to schedule repair work before a vessel enters dry dock. Gecko Robotics said its technology can identify structural issues up to 50 times faster than traditional methods and could save up to $8 million in repair costs for each ship.
The Navy’s stated target is 80% fleet readiness by 2027. Adm. Daryl Caudle said reaching that level requires shorter maintenance periods, more available spare parts, stronger training pipelines and targeted fleet upgrades.
Key facts
- The Gecko Robotics contract now has a potential value of $300 million.
- The initial agreement was a five-year, $54 million contract.
- The initial contract covered 18 ships assigned to the U.S. Pacific Fleet.
- Gecko Robotics said its tools can identify structural issues up to 50 times faster than traditional methods.
- The company cited potential repair-cost savings of up to $8 million per ship.
- The Navy’s fleet-readiness goal is 80% by 2027.
- The Government Accountability Office reported amphibious warfare ship readiness at 46% during 2011–2020.
- Amphibious warfare ship readiness was reported at 41% in August 2025.
Source: Gecko Robotics announcement