The US Navy awards Gecko Robotics a ship inspection contract valued at up to $71 million

Investing.com – The U.S. Navy and the General Services Administration have awarded Gecko Robotics a contract worth up to $71 million, the company announced Tuesday, to use its wall-climbing robots to assess the health of Navy vessels.

The five-year contract initially covers up to $54 million worth of work and allows U.S. government agencies to utilize the technology.

Gecko CEO Jake Loosararian said in an interview that the initial focus will be on 18 ships in the Pacific Fleet, including destroyers, amphibious vessels, and littoral combat ships.

Gecko Robotics will deploy robots to inspect critical structures such as hulls, decks, and welds. The company’s robots, drones, and fixed sensors can collect extensive structural data, which can be analyzed using artificial intelligence to detect corrosion, cracks, and other defects.

Data from previously deployed surface ships and submarines show that the system can identify necessary repairs faster and more accurately than traditional inspection methods, at speeds up to 50 times greater. Loosararian said this could reduce maintenance delays.

The project aims to help achieve the goal of keeping 80% of the fleet ready for deployment at all times.

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