The U.S. Navy and the General Services Administration recently awarded Pittsburgh-based Gecko Robotics, a company combining advanced robotics and artificial intelligence-powered software, a five-year IDIQ contract with a $71 million cap. The award is for the deployment of artificial intelligence and robotics to assess and maintain the health of military assets and help meet the chief of naval operations’ target of 80 percent fleet readiness.
“Readiness isn’t just a metric, it’s all that matters,” Jake Loosararian, Gecko co-founder and CEO, said. “This growing partnership is about unfair advantages Gecko is deploying to our Navy; and how prediction, through our robotics and AI products, ensure our brave men and women are the most advantaged in the world in their fight to defend freedom. Today we announce not a contract, but a new standard that is universal across all industries: if it isn’t ready, it doesn’t count.”
Under the terms of the contract, Gecko will begin with 18 ships in the U.S. Pacific Fleet. The initial award is worth up to $54 million over a five-year period.
Gecko Robotics’ advanced AI and robotic technology can identify repairs up to 50 times faster and more accurately than manual methods, reducing maintenance delays. The technology will be used on destroyers, amphibious warships and littoral combat ships.