Advanced technology to increase throughput by 40% and transform the American Defense Industrial Base
WASHINGTON, D.C. - Wednesday 21 January 2026 - Trident Maritime Systems, a major supplier to the U.S. Navy, has partnered with Gecko Robotics to deploy advanced manufacturing technologies that expand production of the fleet’s essential components. Across 20 fabrication facilities responsible for mission-critical parts to fully integrated shipboard systems, AI and robotics will increase throughput by at least 40% in support of the Navy’s growing shipbuilding and sustainment demands.
Through this partnership, Gecko and Trident will bring new digital and robotic capabilities to increase capacity within legacy manufacturing environments, boosting the defense supply chain, which provides vast and essential components to the U.S. Navy and Department of Defense. The manufacturing capability and capacity of our industrial base is critical to the U.S. Navy and shipbuilding industry. It is time for the manufacturing industrial base to further modernize its build process and increase capacity.
By deploying Gecko’s engineering teams, robotics platforms, and AI-powered software, Cantilever™, directly onto Trident factory floors, the partnership will identify hidden bottlenecks and implement both hardware and software interventions designed for high-mix manufacturing. Not only will this accelerate production timelines and accuracy for suppliers, but it will improve schedule performance for the U.S. Navy’s fleet.
“Rebuilding the American industrial base requires new ways of understanding how components are made, and how we unlock the capacity hidden within our supply chain,” said Jake Loosararian, Co-founder and CEO of Gecko Robotics. “Gecko’s partnership with Trident will rigorously assess each component and build a digital thread that will improve the manufacturing process, ensuring our men and women get the ships and systems they need.”
“As shipbuilding demand accelerates, the real challenge isn’t just adding capacity but unlocking productivity across the existing supplier network,” said Trip Mullen, COO at Trident Maritime Systems. “To change the way we build ships it demands we look at our processes, systems, and capabilities differently and take advantage of new technology. We must utilize these advances to deliver more production out of the existing facilities and personnel we have today across the entire industrial base. Trident and Gecko are turning real manufacturing conditions into smarter planning, stronger schedules, and scalable output.”
The application of data-driven analysis and robotic systems to high-mix manufacturing represents a significant advancement for an industry expanding output across multiple fabrication and integration sites. These capabilities are particularly impactful as shipbuilding increasingly relies on distributed execution to balance capacity, workforce availability, and schedule performance.
By equipping the Navy’s supplier network with tools purpose-built for complex, bespoke production, Gecko Robotics and Trident Maritime Systems are enabling a more productive, modern, and resilient shipbuilding enterprise for decades to come—supporting sustained growth in advanced manufacturing, AI-enabled planning, and distributed execution across the maritime industrial base.
About Trident
Trident is a major supplier and manufacturer that operates across more than twenty production, integration, and service sites supporting the U.S. naval and commercial shipbuilding ecosystem.
Its scope spans turnkey outfitting and joiner solutions, distributed systems (HVAC/Refrigeration/Fire Suppression), automation, power, propulsion and controls, shipboard equipment and systems, module and subassembly support, and lifecycle services delivered in close coordination with shipyards and major suppliers.
With a distributed footprint, Trident has direct visibility into how planning decisions, material availability, labor sequencing, and execution challenges recur across facilities, particularly as more work is executed off-ship and integrated later in the build cycle.
About Gecko
Gecko Robotics combines advanced robotics and AI-powered software to build, operate and modernize the world’s most critical infrastructure.
Using robots that climb, crawl, fly and swim, Gecko is able to collect an unprecedented amount of data on the built world, whether that’s with Fortune 100 companies in energy, oil and gas, and manufacturing sectors around the world, or the U.S. Air Force and U.S. Navy to protect and optimize nuclear submarines and aircraft carriers.
Through its AI-powered platform, Cantilever, Gecko transforms the massive datasets collected by its robots into actionable insights that enable data-driven, evidence-based decisions on structures.
Media Contact:
Steve Bourner
Steve.Bourner@geckorobotics.com
+1 347-686-1313