Federal Court Orders US Navy to Reevaluate Saildrone's Drone Ship Bid in $2.1B MUSV Competition

The US Court of Federal Claims has ordered the Navy to reevaluate Saildrone's Spectre proposal after overturning its exclusion from the $2.1 billion Medium Unmanned Surface Vessel competition. According to Saildrone's November 2 announcement, the Navy cannot commit more than $1.5 billion to production before completing that review, while a separate Blue Water Autonomy protest was rejected. The ruling follows September production agreements with Galliano Marine Services, HII and Saronic covering 10 vessels each. The competition seeks production-ready vessels carrying containerized payloads, with initial deliveries under the existing awards expected before fiscal 2027 ends.