Saildrone has won a legal challenge against the US Navy’s decision to exclude the company from the Medium Unmanned Surface Vessel (MUSV) competition, with a federal court ordering the service to reevaluate its proposal.
The US Court of Federal Claims ruled that the service had improperly disqualified the California-based firm from the competition and directed the service to assess its proposal again using the same evaluation criteria applied to other bidders.
The ruling also restricts the navy from committing more than $1.5 billion of the program’s $2.1 billion budget to production until the reevaluation is completed.
Saildrone filed the lawsuit in July after the US Navy found its proposal non-compliant with all three evaluation criteria in the MUSV solicitation. The company argued that its proposed Spectre vessel met or exceeded all mandatory requirements
According to Saildrone, the service subsequently withdrew two of its three non-compliance findings after the company challenged the decision.
The court rejected the remaining finding, concluding that the navy had applied arbitrary and inconsistent evaluation standards.
Saildrone Seeks Return to Competition
The ruling clears the way for Saildrone’s proposal to receive another evaluation, although it does not guarantee the company a contract under the program.
The MUSV program is part of the US Navy’s effort to expand its fleet of unmanned surface vessels, which are intended to operate alongside crewed ships and support a range of maritime missions.
Saildrone founder and CEO Richard Jenkins welcomed the decision, saying the firm was ready to move past the legal dispute and focus on delivering its maritime autonomy technology to the navy.
He emphasized that Saildrone had spent more than a decade developing and operating unmanned maritime systems in challenging ocean environments, including hostile operational settings.
Jetkins described the ruling as a victory for fair competition, taxpayers, and national security, while reiterating the company’s interest in contributing to the navy’s future maritime capabilities.