Japanese shipbuilder to produce drone boats, eyes Japan, US orders

Onomichi Dockyard plans to manufacture smaller uncrewed surface vessels developed by partner companies, targeting future orders from Japan and the United States. The move brings established shipbuilding skills into a market where navies want relatively affordable craft for surveillance, logistics and distributed maritime operations. It also reflects closer industrial attention to rapid, repeatable production of autonomous boats rather than one-off demonstrators. The initiative is a production and market-entry plan: no defence customer has confirmed an order, and the vessel design, autonomy package, annual capacity, investment value and delivery schedule remain undisclosed.