The sea is not merely behind technologically \u2014 it is the last great frontier for transformative innovation.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n
On land and in the air, technology was reshaping everything. Robotics and autonomy were leaving laboratories for factories and highways. Vehicles were becoming electrified and software-defined. We were preparing to return to the moon and planning for Mars, even debating the social risks of automation. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
But at sea, the technology stack had scarcely moved since the 1950s. Shipyards and fleets remained analog, fragmented, and slow. And yet the ocean runs the world. Ninety percent<\/a> of global trade moves across it. Our food and energy lifelines, and even the cables that carry our digital lives, lie beneath its surface. Somehow, we had allowed ourselves to forget this.<\/p>\n\n\n\n That disconnect crystallized my conviction. The sea is not merely behind technologically \u2014 it is the last great frontier for transformative innovation. America leads in aerospace, in software, in clean energy. Why not in maritime? To answer that, we must look back: How did we fall from leadership in the first place?<\/p>\n\n\n\n America was built from the water. <\/p>\n\n\n\n Our origin story begins with ships \u2014 wooden hulls carrying settlers across the Atlantic to Jamestown in 1607 and Plymouth in 1620. As the country grew, it was rivers, ports, and coasts \u2014 not roads \u2014 that moved people, coal, grain, and commerce. The Mississippi carried the backbone of agriculture. Cities like New York, Boston, and San Francisco flourished because of their harbors.<\/p>\n\n\n\n During World War II, US shipyards staged an industrial miracle. The Emergency Shipbuilding Program<\/a> produced 2,710 Liberty ships and 534 Victory ships<\/a> \u2014 over 3,200 oceangoing cargo vessels, some assembled in under two weeks. America\u2019s merchant fleet \u2014 its civilian ships for carrying cargo and passengers \u2014 became the world\u2019s largest, sustaining Allied logistics. Naval supremacy followed.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Today, America has almost no merchant fleet.<\/p><\/blockquote><\/figure>\n\n\n\n But the post-war pivot was costly. Surplus ships, shifting defense priorities, and declining subsidies gave Japan and South Korea room to modernize their yards. China surged later and now leads global commercial shipbuilding by a wide margin. Of the roughly 5,500 commercial vessels<\/a> built globally each year, China alone builds around 1,700<\/strong>, while the United States builds fewer than five<\/strong>. China accounts for about 50%<\/strong> of global shipbuilding output by number (and even more by tonnage), with South Korea at around 30%<\/strong> and Japan at about 10\u201317%<\/strong>. The US market share has dropped to less than 1%.<\/p>\n\n\n\n This collapse was not inevitable \u2014 it was the product of policy. US-built ships are three-to-five times more expensive than foreign ones. The Jones Act of 1920<\/a> \u2014 intended to protect domestic fleets \u2014 barred international construction for US operators, but without parallel investments to modernize US shipyards, the law only raised costs. In the 1980s, the Construction Differential Subsidy<\/a> was abolished, hollowing out the commercial base. Today, America has almost no merchant fleet.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The current situation is both an economic and national security risk. Most of America\u2019s goods arrive by sea, yet we no longer have the capacity to build the merchant fleets that carry them. Our waterways, once the arteries of commerce, are scarcely used for transport. And while the US Navy operates the most advanced and expensive vessels in the world, we are entering an era of asymmetric warfare, where drones costing thousands can threaten carriers worth billions. In such a world, relying on a handful of exquisite, slow-to-build ships is a vulnerability. <\/p>\n\n\n\n To compete, America must reinvent its maritime strategy with urgency and intent. <\/p>\n\n\n\n The task is not simply to adopt new technologies, but to rethink the architecture of maritime power.\u00a0<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n Fortunately, the playbook for industrial revival is changing, and America has the advantage. Software, AI-driven design, robotic manufacturing, and digital twins are redefining how complex systems are built. Where traditional shipbuilding relied on labor and scale, the new frontier rewards autonomy, precision, and adaptability \u2014 domains where American ingenuity excels. Drawing on breakthroughs from autonomous cars, drones, spacecraft, and electrification, we now have the tools to rebuild the maritime technology stack from the ground up.<\/p>\n\n\n\n But this opportunity cannot stop at the Navy. America\u2019s waterways themselves hold enormous untapped economic potential. Revitalizing commercial shipbuilding \u2014 ferries, merchant vessels, water taxis, and vessels for short-sea shipping \u2014 would not only unlock that value in peacetime, but also create the industrial foundation for defense. <\/p>\n\n\n\n This is where dual use becomes essential. Instead of bespoke warships that are costly and slow to deliver, we need common base platforms mass-produced at commercial scale. Civilian operators can use them for trade and transport, while defense primes adapt them with sensors, weapons, and communications for military missions.<\/p>\n\n\n\n This approach lowers costs, accelerates delivery, and \u2014 by integrating superior technology on these platforms at scale \u2014 ensures that America has both the fleet size and the industrial depth needed to respond to a crisis. The task, therefore, is not simply to adopt new technologies, but to rethink the architecture of maritime power. <\/p>\n\n\n\n However, scale alone is not enough. To lead at sea, America must out-innovate on three fronts at once. First, in how we build: harnessing automation, robotics, and digital design to bring down costs and accelerate production. Second, in what we build: vessels engineered from first principles of naval architecture to minimize drag, consume less energy, travel farther and faster, and remain stable even in the harshest sea states. And third, in what we integrate: software and autonomy that reduce labor burdens, increase safety, and allow fleets to operate as coordinated, adaptive networks rather than isolated ships.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Maritime superiority in the 21st century will not be measured in tonnage alone. It will depend on whether we can combine these levers \u2014 automated production, superior vessel design, and autonomy at scale \u2014 to create fleets that are not only affordable and numerous, but also fundamentally better.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Many companies are rightly advancing autonomy. Some companies are heads-down focused on building defense-specific vessels. At Navier, we believed that for America to lead \u2014 and to have the greatest economic, geopolitical, and national security impact \u2014 we had to build as a dual-use company.<\/strong> That meant going deeper: designing a base platform robust enough to thrive in civilian markets, yet adaptable enough to be quickly repurposed for defense.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The goal of building long-range vessels that could handle high sea states and remain cost-efficient led us to autonomous hydrofoiling vessels. These vessels ride on submerged, winglike structures called foils<\/strong>. As speed increases, the foils lift the hull above the surface, cutting drag by up to 90%<\/strong>. The result is lower energy use, longer range, and a remarkably smooth, stable ride even in rougher seas. When paired with autonomy, the advantages multiply \u2014 operating costs fall sharply, especially for smaller vessels where crew expenses make up a significant share of the budget.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Suddenly, ferries and small water taxis become economically viable, costing 10-15 times less than traditional boats of their size. <\/p>\n\n\n\n For commuters, that means cheaper, faster, quieter travel. For defense, it means agile platforms with reach and flexibility that displacement craft cannot match. Fully electric foils keep urban waterways clean and quiet, while hybrid power extends their range to levels suitable for logistics and defense. Integrating autonomy not only reduces labor costs in commercial transport, but also enables unmanned missions \u2014 protecting military personnel by keeping them out of harm\u2019s way.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Instead of clinging to a few massive ships, America\u2019s maritime future lies in a greater number of smaller, capable vessels that can scale commercially and then adapt for security needs. A commuter ferry that is efficient and stable and that can, with modest modifications, also carry sensors or systems. A fleet of such craft, operating as a coordinated swarm, could extend a military presence across vast areas for logistics or surveillance.<\/p>\n\n\n\nFrom superpower to bystander<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n
The future is dual use<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n
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New technology drivers<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n
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