Anduril Industries has teamed up with Kraken Technology Group to deepen its involvement in the US Navy’s plans for a hybrid fleet built around uncrewed surface vessels (USVs).
Announced at Sea-Air-Space in Washington, the partnership centres on developing and delivering small, fast, “quick-reaction” USVs aimed at both US and allied requirements. The companies say Kraken’s K5 KRAKEN and K7 SABRE platforms will be manufactured and integrated under licence in the United States, paired with modular payloads intended to slot into a wider ecosystem of autonomous systems.
Instead of spending years designing something new, the pair is working with existing boats and wiring them into a broader mission system so they can slot into US and NATO operations. It aligns with where the US Navy has been heading for a while: spreading the workload across more, smaller, autonomous vessels rather than relying on a handful of crewed platforms to do everything.
Mal Crease, founder & CEO, Kraken Technology Group said: “This partnership reflects Kraken’s commitment to supporting global maritime challenges with hardened operational capabilities at a critical point in history. Under this agreement Kraken will deliver low-cost, scalable and modular systems that are both reliable and effective.”
Cory Emmons, general manager of Surface Dominance at Anduril Industries added: “Kraken is known for their proven, battle-tested platforms. This partnership expands Anduril’s family of autonomous surface offerings with small boats carrying mission payloads, adding a complementary capability to larger ASVs and the legacy fleet.”
That emphasis on “complementary” capability is doing some work. Anduril already fields a growing maritime portfolio spanning sensing, autonomy, and larger autonomous systems, but has been lighter on smaller, attritable surface craft. Partnering with a UK firm that can produce those platforms at volume offers a quicker route to market than building a new class of vessels from scratch, while allowing Anduril to focus on integration, software and customer access.
The deal also highlights how UK defence tech firms are looking beyond a constrained domestic market. While Westminster has made industrial strategy and sovereign capability a priority, spending on new platforms has been slower to materialise. Kraken, founded in 2020, has instead built momentum internationally, including a recent $49 million award from US Special Operations Command, and is now positioning itself more firmly inside the US ecosystem.
Kraken declined to answer questions about the partnership’s commercial structure, including whether the agreement involves any financial investment from Anduril and how integration and go-to-market responsibilities will be split. Both companies were also asked how the tie-up fits alongside Anduril’s existing maritime programmes, but no response was received at the time of publication.
