"The Court finds that the Navy engaged in disparate treatment, and thus, acted in an arbitrary and capricious manner in its review of Saildrone’s proposal," Judge Philip Hadji wrote in his opinion.
Judge Hadji’s ruling and the court’s orders
The US Court of Federal Claims concluded that the Navy unfairly evaluated Saildrone’s proposal for the medium unmanned surface vessel (MUSV) program and ordered corrective action. The opinion, originally issued Oct. 30 and publicly released on Wednesday, directs the Navy to reevaluate Saildrone’s proposal within 60 days using the same evaluation approach that was applied to companies that advanced in the competition. The court also barred the Navy from relying on its previously withdrawn findings under two other evaluation criteria to eliminate Saildrone.
Why Saildrone was disqualified — and how the court saw disparate treatment
The Navy had disqualified Saildrone from advancing to on‑water testing because the company’s proposal and a summary document known as a J‑8 Placemat reportedly showed loaded displacements that exceeded the stated maximum displacement for the design. The court found Saildrone was held to a higher standard after determining the Navy accepted a Placemat from Sea Machines that either reported both payload‑condition displacements above the stated “Max Displacement” (STEAMRUNNER) or left those fields blank (STEAMRACER). The opinion said the distinction did not affect the court’s finding that the Navy’s treatment “disparately favored Sea Machines and arbitrarily held Saildrone to a higher standard.”
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Get a security leadSpending restriction and program budget impact
As a practical consequence of the ruling, the court prohibited the Navy from spending more than $1.5 billion of the $2.1 billion allocated for the MUSV program on production until the reevaluation is complete. A US Navy spokesperson told Breaking Defense the service will comply with the court’s order and reevaluate Saildrone’s proposal to determine if it will qualify for on‑water testing.
Blue Water Autonomy: a separate outcome
The court reached a different conclusion for Blue Water Autonomy, finding that “the Navy reasonably rated Blue Water unacceptable.” The service had eliminated Blue Water because it determined the company’s test vessel — a twin‑hulled catamaran — was not “representative” of its production vessel, an axe‑bow monohull. Blue Water argued that hull and machinery plants were not listed among the assets to be evaluated in testing, but the court concluded that “‘representative’ unambiguously calls for comparing the test vessel with the production vessel” and noted the solicitation did not exclude hull form or propulsion architecture from that comparison.
Blue Water co‑founder and chief strategy officer Austin Gray told Breaking Defense that “nothing about the test vessel was core to our technology, our ship, or our product.” Gray also said the Navy has made positive changes in Phase II of the MUSV program.
Program requirements, Phase II changes, and Navy acquisition intent
The MUSV marketplace launched in March, and the Navy’s Phase I solicitation set specific performance criteria that some companies found challenging: proposals were required to travel 2,500 nautical miles at 25 knots in sea state 4 conditions with a payload capacity of two 40‑foot containers. Phase II, unveiled in September, lowered the payload size to require at least two standard 20‑foot shipping containers and removed the high‑speed requirement. Christopher Miller, Direct Reporting Portfolio Manager for robotic and autonomous systems (DRPM RAS), acknowledged September reporting that Phase I requirements created difficulties and said the Navy wants to “open the aperture” for new entrants, increase options for other services, and give more industry opportunities for companies that have “something ready to go.”
What this means for Saildrone, Blue Water Autonomy, and the Navy
- Saildrone: The company has secured a court‑ordered reevaluation within 60 days and a temporary budgetary protection that keeps more than $1.5 billion from being spent on production until the process concludes. Founder and CEO Richard Jenkins said the ruling is “a win for fair competition, for taxpayers, and for national security.”
- Blue Water Autonomy: The company remains eliminated from the competition following the court’s finding that the Navy reasonably rated it unacceptable; its leadership emphasizes that Phase II changes may lessen earlier barriers.
- The Navy: The service must both comply with the court’s orders — reevaluating Saildrone and observing the production spending limit — and continue implementing Phase II adjustments intended to broaden competition and ease earlier technical thresholds.
The court’s decision resets at least one part of the MUSV competition and places a hard, near‑term deadline on the Navy’s next procedural step: a 60‑day reevaluation that will determine whether Saildrone advances to on‑water testing. Whether that reevaluation changes the competition’s lineup — and how it will affect program timing and industrial plans tied to the remaining $600 million of the MUSV budget — will unfold as the Navy follows the court’s directive.
Source: Breaking Defense — Navy unfairly evaluated Saildrone MUSV proposal, court finds
