DARPA picks Saronic for semi-autonomous vessel protection program

February 11, 2026, by Fatima Bahtić

Saronic has been selected to support the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency’s (DARPA) Pulling Guard program, an initiative aimed at developing and demonstrating semi-autonomous escort systems to enhance the survivability of unarmed logistics vessels against emerging threats.

The US Navy has traditionally protected key transit routes using high-end assets such as guided missile destroyers and carrier strike groups, an approach that is increasingly unsustainable at today’s scale.

DARPA’s Pulling Guard program aims to provide a more scalable, distributed model for maritime protection by leveraging advances in low-cost commercial technologies in command and control, autonomy, and sensing.

Saronic will participate in the program under Focus Area 2 (FA2), where it will focus on designing an autonomy-enabled, modular vessel to address maritime security challenges.

Specifically, the company will work on the design and development of the Pulling Guard platform, focusing on the creation of a modular, autonomy-enabled vessel with standardized physical and digital interfaces to support integration with a variety of sensors and effectors/

With modularity at both the software and hardware levels, the platform’s design should enable rapid iteration to address evolving threats and regulations, it was noted. In alignment with DARPA’s iterative development model, Saronic will focus on contributing to a collaborative design cycle that matures capabilities from concept through delivery, enabling rapid integration, testing, and refinement.

Moreover, the firm will also work to devise transition pathways that enable Pulling Guard capabilities to endure beyond the program, including concepts for “protection as a service” that support commercial shipping in peacetime and logistics operations during conflict.

“The aims of the program align with our mission to rapidly design and deploy autonomous maritime systems that fundamentally change how maritime security is delivered,” said Rob Lehman, Co-Founder and Chief Commercial Officer (CCO) at Saronic.

“We look forward to being a part of a program that could help unlock revolutionary advances in autonomous maritime operations while enabling a more resilient and adaptable approach to protecting critical sea lines of communication and commerce.”