Navy Expands Gecko Robotics Warship Inspection Contract

The U.S. Navy has raised its contract ceiling with Gecko Robotics to $300 million to accelerate warship maintenance and readiness.

Updated on Oct. 20, 2026 in Robotics

Bold flat-color editorial illustration showing a robotic crawler unit attached to a steel hull, representing naval maintenance technology. — The U.S. Navy raised its contract ceiling with Gecko Robotics to $300 million to accelerate warship maintenance and fleet readiness. AI Illustration. Upload story photo >

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The U.S. Navy has increased its contract ceiling for robotic inspections with Gecko Robotics to $300 million from $71 million. This initiative aims to improve fleet readiness and reduce ship repair times using advanced wall-climbing robots.

Why it matters

The Navy is deploying robotic technology to address a shipbuilding gap with China and return vessels to service more quickly. By automating structural scans, the military hopes to hit an 80% fleet readiness target.

Gecko Robotics uses wall-climbing robots to scan hulls, flight decks, and ballast tanks for corrosion without removing coatings. The company's AI-powered Cantilever platform processes this data to identify structural issues and predict failures.

The players

U.S. Navy

This branch of the United States Armed Forces is responsible for maintaining and operating naval combat ships and submarines.

Gecko Robotics

Based in Pittsburgh, this robotics company specializes in wall-climbing sensors and AI software for industrial infrastructure inspections.

The details

The newly unveiled Komodo robot can inspect steel beneath deck coatings, drastically reducing repair requirements; in one assessment, the work area needed for repairs dropped from 1,200 square feet to 300 square feet. This precision allows for potential savings of $8 million per ship, with inspection speeds reaching 50 times faster than traditional methods.

March 2026: The U.S. Navy awarded the initial robotic inspection contract to Gecko Robotics.
October 20, 2026: The contract expansion to $300 million was reported.

The Tech Race

The integration of AI-driven robotics into naval maintenance represents a move away from manual, labor-intensive structural inspections. This transition positions the U.S. military to counter global maritime competitors by maximizing the operational lifespan and readiness of existing vessels.

While the technology is used for warships, the expansion of autonomous inspection capabilities could lead to more efficient maintenance for other critical infrastructure and maritime sectors. Users of industrial data can expect faster, more predictive insights as AI platforms like Cantilever scale.

The takeaway

The Navy's move highlights how robotic automation can turn maintenance from a reactive bottleneck into a proactive, data-driven process. Organizations facing complex structural maintenance challenges can monitor this shift to see how AI and scanning can reduce physical repair footprints.