Leidos, a familiar name in government IT, missiles, and airport security, is quietly positioning itself as a dark horse in maritime autonomy. CEO Thomas Bell didn’t mince words at the company’s recent symposium: “We’re not seen as at the vanguard of this, but we’re about to surprise people.” And with the Navy’s push for a hybrid fleet—and the budgets to back it up—the stakes couldn’t be higher.
The maritime autonomy space is heating up, with a mix of tech startups and defense giants vying for a slice of the action. Private capital-backed players like Saronic, Saildrone, HavocAI, and Anduril are making waves, while established names like Saab, Textron Systems, and L3Harris aren’t far behind. Even traditional shipbuilders HII and General Dynamics are in the mix. But Leidos is carving out its own path, betting big on software and strategic acquisitions to stand out.
Bell emphasized that Leidos isn’t just another hardware player. The company’s 2020 acquisition of Dynetics—a research and security firm—gave it a robust defense backbone. “Years ago, we bought Dynetics in Huntsville, Alabama. We have a robust defense business. We bought [Security Enterprise Solutions]—so that’s our whole airport [scanner] and non-intrusive inspection regime that gives us these products and capabilities,” Bell said. Those capabilities, he argued, change the game. “[Those] are placards, if you will, on a battlefield or in a customer’s hands. And that changes the scope of our value add.”
Leidos has been quietly amassing maritime drone expertise for nearly a decade. The 2021 acquisition of ship designer Gibbs & Cox was a key move, and the company has since inked several shipyard partnerships to meet the Navy’s ambitious goal of fielding 78 uncrewed medium and large surface vessels and at least 56 uncrewed undersea vehicles. The company also recently teamed up with Nauticus Robotics to work on undersea drone tech capable of handling complex missions.
But Leidos isn’t just about partnerships. The Marine Corps is already testing its autonomous undersea vehicles, and earlier this year, the company unveiled the Sea Dart—a small, low-cost, attritable UUV. The Navy also awarded Leidos a five-year, $248 million contract in October to design and engineer sea drone tech for maritime intelligence, surveillance, and reconnaissance. And last year, Leidos’ LAVA (Leidos Autonomous Vehicle Architecture) powered USVs sailing from San Diego to Australia.
Bell’s vision is clear: Leidos isn’t just building ships—it’s building the ecosystem around them. “We’re not world renowned as an autonomous naval vessel builder. That’s because we don’t build ships. But everything around it, and everything that enables those commercial shipyards to become government shipyards, we have, and we’re very excited about it,” he said.
What sets Leidos apart, according to Bell, is its ability to connect the dots. “I’m really happy to have all these points in Leidos, because they are all connected by software, autonomy, cybersecurity, and AI. Those are the substrates that connect all that hardware to all that software.” In a field where integration is key, that could be the difference maker.
As the Navy’s hybrid fleet ambitions take shape, Leidos is positioning itself as more than just a contractor—it’s becoming a full-stack player in maritime autonomy. And if Bell’s confidence is any indication, the company is ready to surprise a few people along the way.