Saronic unveils USD300 million expansion for Louisiana shipyard

Marauder ASVs under construction at Saronic's shipyard in Franklin, Louisiana. (Saronic Technologies)

On 3 December, Saronic Technologies announced a USD300 million investment to expand its shipyard in Franklin, Louisiana.

The expansion will “significantly increase production capacity for Saronic's fleet of autonomous surface vessels (ASVs) … to meet surging demand”, the company said in a statement.

“The company broke ground on the new construction project in November 2025, which will add more than 300,000 sq ft of new production capacity. The project is slated for completion by the end of 2026, with expanded operations coming online in early 2027,” according to the statement.

The project includes three new slips, an expanded warehouse, and a dedicated production line for large vessel assembly, primarily for the Marauder ASV, which Saronic announced earlier in 2025.

The expansion “allows us to scale production of the 180 ft Marauder ships and accelerate delivery of advanced autonomous platforms to the US and its allies. Our focus is meeting urgent operational needs with the dedicated capacity, workforce, and platforms designed for speed, adaptability, and production readiness”, a Saronic spokesperson told Janes on 9 December.

“The Franklin shipyard serves as the prototyping and production hub for our growing fleet of larger autonomous surface vessels, starting with Marauder,” the spokesperson added.

“Saronic delivers the full ship platform and autonomy stack while supporting a wide range of commercial and government systems, technologies, and capabilities through a modular, open-architecture approach,” the spokesperson noted. “Our vessels are designed to integrate diverse payloads, sensors, and systems so customers can tailor the platform to their operational needs.”

The spokesperson highlighted the maturity of Saronic's autonomy technology, which “has been advancing continuously since the company's inception”.