Blue Water Autonomy Unveils Multi-Partner Manufacturing Model to Scale Next-Generation Shipbuilding

Partnerships with Tulip, Caterpillar, Precise Power Systems, and Valstad demonstrate distributed shipbuilding with AI-enabled assembly 

BOSTON, May 7, 2026 /PRNewswire/ -- Blue Water Autonomy, a Boston-based technology and shipbuilding company, today announced strategic partnerships to scale the production of its next-generation, autonomous vessels, combining proven industrial capacity with AI-native, software-enabled manufacturing capability.

The announcement builds on the company's recent introduction of its Liberty Class, a 190-foot autonomous ship designed for the U.S. Navy, currently under construction at Conrad Shipyard. It comes as the Navy and broader defense ecosystem accelerate toward producible, autonomous ships, in support of the Navy's Medium Unmanned Surface Vessels program, the fleet's largest unmanned initiative with more than $6 billion of funding.

"Traditional shipbuilding doesn't scale, and pure software approaches don't deliver hardware," said Rylan Hamilton, CEO of Blue Water Autonomy. "We're doing both. Integrating proven marine systems with AI-driven manufacturing and operations to fundamentally rethink how ships are built. By distributing and parallelizing work across proven partners, we're creating a production system that can move at the pace required for a modern maritime industrial base."

At the core of Blue Water's model is a network of best-in-class partners across critical shipbuilding components and manufacturing infrastructure:

• Tulip powers Blue Water's AI-native manufacturing execution system, enabling real-time orchestration of production on the factory floor.
• Caterpillar Defense provides proven, field tested, marine diesel engines that power Blue Water's vessels.
• Precise Power Systems designs and manufacturers fully integrated containerized engine modules designed to operate autonomously for extended durations without human intervention.
• Valstad develops advanced manufacturing automation systems, including modular structural panel kits and robotic fabrication cells to power distributed ship production.

"Shipbuilding has always required extraordinary coordination, and we're giving that coordination a software backbone," said Erik Mirandette, Chief Business Officer at Tulip. "Tulip connects every step on the factory floor with real-time data and AI-native tools, so Blue Water can orchestrate production at scale, catch issues earlier, and build with the speed and reliability that modern maritime demands."

Together, these partners enable Blue Water to digitize and orchestrate shipbuilding from the ground up, transforming traditionally manual, fragmented processes into a scalable, software-defined production system. The result: speed, flexibility, and resilience.

The announcement builds on Blue Water's broader strategy to modernize maritime manufacturing by pairing established industrial capabilities with next-generation software infrastructure, enabling faster iteration, improved reliability, and increased production capacity across a network of partners.

Shipbuilding and testing of Blue Water's vessels are already underway, with the company currently executing an accelerated testing program and targeting a live autonomy demonstration later this summer.

About Blue Water Autonomy

Founded in 2024, Blue Water Autonomy is making unmanned ships a reality. Blue Water Autonomy's autonomous ship design fully integrates hardware, software, and AI, allowing vessels to operate on the open ocean for months at a time. For more information, visit www.blw.ai.

About Tulip

Tulip, the leader in frontline operations, is helping companies of all sizes and industries equip their workforces with connected, composable, and intelligent tools. With Tulip's AI-native, no-code platform, manufacturers can digitize processes, collect real-time data, and drive continuous improvement — by using AI and without writing a line of code. Tulip is headquartered in Somerville, MA, with offices in Munich, Budapest, Singapore, Tel Aviv, and Tokyo.

About Caterpillar

For more than a century, Caterpillar has built a better, more sustainable world. With 2025 sales and revenues of $67.6 billion, Caterpillar Inc. is shaping the future as the world's leading manufacturer of construction and mining equipment, off-highway diesel and natural gas engines, industrial gas turbines and diesel-electric locomotives. Backed by one of the largest independent global dealer networks and financing services through Cat Financial, the company's primary business segments: Power & Energy, Construction Industries and Resource Industries are solving customers' toughest challenges through commercial excellence and advanced technology, driven by a highly skilled, dedicated global team. Learn more at www.caterpillar.com.

About Precise Power Systems

Precise Power Systems (PPS), based in Howell, Michigan, is a specialized engineering and manufacturing company focused on designing and delivering containerized and skid-mounted power and auxiliary system solutions for defense and maritime applications. With deep experience in supporting U.S. Navy programs and unmanned surface vessels, PPS integrates generator modules, automated fuel and lube oil systems, and acoustic enclosures into fully tested, turnkey packages built for reliability, rapid installation, and long-term maintainability. Leveraging in-house engineering, fabrication, controls integration, and test capabilities, PPS provides customers with highly integrated, mission-ready systems that reduce shipyard complexity and support scalable production. Learn more at www.precisepowersystems.com.

About Valstad

Valstad builds robotic fabrication cells for distributed shipbuilding. Headquartered in Austin, Texas, the company designs and operates automated assembly systems that scale vessel structure production for U.S. naval and commercial programs. Valstad's cells are designed to be qualified in-house and deployed to partner yards, giving shipbuilders proven manufacturing capability without first-of-kind integration risk. Learn more at valstad.com.

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SOURCE Blue Water Autonomy