Near Earth Autonomy Wins U.S. Contract for Maritime Drone Ops

Near Earth Autonomy has won a U.S. Naval Air Systems Command (Navair) contract to develop autonomous flight technology for uncrewed aircraft systems (UAS) operating in contested maritime environments. 

Issued under an Other Transaction Agreement through the Naval Aviation Systems Consortium, the award is intended to improve the Marine Corps’ ability to conduct uncrewed resupply missions in areas where GPS and communications links may be degraded or unavailable. Pittsburgh-based Near Earth will deliver an aircraft-agnostic system enabling ship-to-shore, shore-to-ship, and ship-to-ship logistics in unprepared and hazardous environments without continuous connectivity.

Near Earth expects to deliver the new autonomy system to Navair in September 2026, when the company will demonstrate the system on a small UAS that it is currently integrating, a Near Earth spokesperson told AIN. That demonstration will take place at Patuxent River Naval Air Station in Maryland and will showcase “a full range of capabilities, including ship searching, deck tracking, night operations, and autonomous flights between moving vessels,” the company said in a statement.

According to Near Earth, the contract work will help to mature various capabilities for autonomous aircraft, including confined-area operations, ship recovery in emissions-controlled environments, and GPS-free navigation. 

The project builds on Near Earth’s 13 years of experience developing autonomous systems for U.S. defense programs. Earlier efforts include the Marines’ Autonomous Aerial Cargo/Utility System (AACUS), which demonstrated rotorcraft resupply autonomy, and a subsequent program that miniaturized those capabilities for smaller UAS platforms.

“This contract with the Navy is a key next step, maturing our autonomous systems performance for maritime missions," said company CEO Sanjiv Singh. “We will build upon our past work on compact systems for uncrewed aerial logistics. This effort supports the Navy's ability to perform resilient, reliable maritime operations across aircraft.”

The company’s Firefly autonomy system will serve as the foundation for the effort. Firefly is a compact, self-contained hardware-and-software package that enables drones to navigate independently. It consists of a two-pound payload module with cameras and sensors, navigation software, and flight-control interfaces. 

While Near Earth describes Firefly as “aircraft-agnostic,” the device is intended for Class 1-4 drones—“small UAS that prioritize minimizing weight,” the spokesperson said. Firefly has already been deployed on UAS platforms built by BAE Systems, L3Harris, and Pterodynamics.