Considering that the defense industry is among the frontliners in implementing new technologies, sometimes well before the mainstream, it’s no surprise that AI warships are about to hit the seas, supported by investor confidence.
Specifically, Austin-based startup Saronic has recently completed an impressive round of financing in which it raised $600 million towards building an autonomous ship factory ‘Port Alpha,’ according to the company’s press release from February 18.
As it happens, the Series C investment round, led by Elad Gil (Gil Capital), has increased the Saronic’s valuation to $4 billion just seven months after it hit unicorn status in July 2024, with other investors including General Catalyst as a new investor and existing supporters such as a16z, Caffeinated Capital, and 8VC.
Saronic’s AI warship dream
Thanks to this financial injection, Saronic will build its state-of-the-art factory for autonomous warships, referring to it as the “Shipyard of the Future,” and plans to put it into operation within the next five years. That said, the company is yet to determine a suitable location to house ‘Port Alpha.’
The aim is to strengthen U.S. shipbuilding capacity and keep up with Chinese competition as the demand for unmanned ships increases, particularly after Ukraine’s successful use of drone ships to drive the Russian Navy out of Crimea.
With the new round of financing, Saronic raised a total of close to $850 million. According to the company’s co-founder and CEO Dino Mavrookas, the success and increased valuation of Saronic is due to the rapid development of new ships and software solutions, reflecting the ongoing trend of defense tech attracting large investments. As he explained:
“A core principle of Saronic is that we design our vessels for autonomy from the keel up. (…) We will take the same approach with Port Alpha, designing a shipyard from the ground up to produce at a speed and scale not seen since World War II. Port Alpha will reflect the apex of America’s shipbuilding past – generating new opportunities for the country’s shipbuilding workforce, forging public-private partnerships to accelerate growth, and bringing innovation and ingenuity to an essential industry.”
We will bring these elements together with a single goal: to rapidly build a fleet of autonomous vessels in America that redefines maritime superiority and guarantees freedom of the seas for generations to come.
Other AI advances in defense industry
Meanwhile, a Turkish-made military armed drone, the Bayraktar TB3, has become the world’s first to take off and land on a short-runway vessel, departing from the Baykar Flight Training and Test Center in Keşan, Edirne, and armed with the ASELFLIR-500 Electro-Optical Reconnaissance, Surveillance, and Targeting System from Aselsan.
Aside from having AI warships, the U.S. will benefit from its Naval Postgraduate School (NPS) developing a method that uses AI to accurately assess drone threats in response to the recent proliferation of threats from inexpensive, unmanned aerial systems (UASs) or drones.
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