Award

The ADARO platform is a small unmanned surface vessel (USV) which provides a modular payload capability, extended range, and system interoperability that are exceptional for its class. ADAROÆs ability to deliver a variety of highly capable payloads downrange with low observability provides a unique mission capability in the small USV market. Despite the unique capability of the craft, its high overall system cost has limited broad Department of Navy (DON) adoption. SeaLandAire Technologies, Inc. (SLA) proposes to decrease overall cost of the ADARO system through improvements in production scale, product design, and manufacturing processes. Specific innovations to ADARO will include application of design for manufacturing and assembly (DFMA) and lean manufacturing principles. These innovations will enable SLA to transition ADARO from a craft optimized for rapid iteration and low cost of development to one optimized for low cost of production and sustainment. By investing in cost reduction of the core ADARO craft, this proposal seeks to reduce the mission cost for all ADARO CONOPs and enable higher-capacity, lower-cost applications, such as swarming and expendable missions. This improvement will allow the DON to utilize ADARO with increased capacity as a covert platform to support ISR, SIGINT, EW, and kinetic missions, thereby asserting dominance in contested littoral environments.