MARTAC Adds Capacity for 100 Devil Ray USVs a Year as U.S. Navy Pushes for Unmanned Maritime Mass.

MARTAC partnered with SŌLACE Boats to add production capacity for 100 Devil Ray unmanned surface vessels per year. The expansion supports higher output as U.S. and allied demand for unmanned maritime platforms grows.

The agreement will use SŌLACE’s 18,600-square-meter facility in Edgewater, Florida, which brings experience in vacuum infusion and catamaran hull construction to Devil Ray production. The additional capacity is intended to support a broader shift by U.S. naval forces from limited unmanned demonstrations toward larger operational fleets, while giving MARTAC more industrial depth to respond to demand from both domestic and allied customers.

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The MARTAC Devil Ray T38 unmanned surface vessel is designed for autonomous maritime operations, including surveillance, reconnaissance, logistics, and other distributed naval missions. (Picture source: MARTAC)

The announced figure should be understood as an increase in industrial capacity rather than confirmation of an order for 100 vessels. According to production data released by MARTAC, its network of facilities and co-production partners is intended to support an annual output of between 200 and 300 Devil Ray vessels. This network already includes Mystic Powerboats, with which MARTAC signed a co-production agreement in June to expand its composite manufacturing capacity.

In a statement published on September 15, 2026, MARTAC described the partnership with SŌLACE Boats as another step in increasing its production rate. This development comes as the unmanned maritime systems market enters a phase in which manufacturing throughput is becoming as relevant as platform performance. In August, MARTAC said it had increased its production capacity 25-fold through new investments and partnerships, while forecasting 700 percent order growth and 500 percent revenue growth in 2026 compared with 2025. These figures point to a clear acceleration in industrial activity and place the SŌLACE agreement within a broader effort to increase the number of systems available to U.S. and allied forces.

The Devil Ray family covers several size categories, with the T38 currently serving as MARTAC’s flagship configuration. The T38 is 39.9 feet, or 12.2 meters, long and can carry a maximum payload of 4,000 pounds, approximately 1,814 kilograms. MARTAC states that the carbon-fiber catamaran can exceed 50 knots with an inboard diesel propulsion system, while a gasoline option is also available. Its payload volume can accommodate different combinations of communications equipment, sensors, and effectors rather than a single fixed combat system. This architecture allows the platform to be adapted to different missions without major changes to the basic hull.

The Devil Ray combines high speed, mission endurance and a modular architecture. MARTAC lists intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance, maritime patrol, anti-submarine warfare reconnaissance, electronic warfare, mine countermeasures, logistics and support for surface strike missions among the roles assigned to the family. The T38 can operate through line-of-sight links, satellite communications and mesh networks, while using autonomous navigation designed to comply with international collision-avoidance rules. In May 2026, a U.S. Navy-owned T38 operated by the Naval Air Warfare Center Weapons Division completed a 192-hour autonomous mission off California without an escort vessel, including operations approximately 400 nautical miles from shore. On August 11, a U.S. Navy and industry team also conducted a robotic at-sea refueling demonstration with a T38 off Virginia, addressing one of the practical constraints affecting sustained unmanned operations.

For the U.S. Navy, the issue extends beyond a single manufacturer. The service is already moving toward acquisition models more closely tied to the production of robotic and autonomous systems. In May, it selected seven companies to take part in at-sea trials under its Medium Unmanned Surface Vessel program, with successful participants potentially eligible for follow-on production contracts. MARTAC is not among those seven companies, meaning the agreement with SŌLACE does not constitute a U.S. Navy MUSV contract. It nevertheless reflects the same industrial challenge. Moving toward autonomous fleets requires regular hull production as well as mission-system integration, software, communications equipment, quality control and sustainment at rates far above those needed for a limited number of experimental platforms.

This production capacity could have direct applications in two theaters. In the Baltic Sea, where NATO is already deploying naval drones under Baltic Sentry, USVs such as the Devil Ray could monitor approaches to cables and pipelines or maintain a persistent presence around critical undersea infrastructure. In the South China Sea, where the United States and the Philippines are conducting an increasing number of joint maritime activities, flotillas of this type could cover passages between islands, extend surveillance across the Philippine exclusive economic zone, and maintain a persistent presence without keeping frigates or crewed patrol vessels continuously on station.

Written By Erwan Halna du Fretay - Defense Analyst, Army Recognition Group
Erwan Halna du Fretay holds a Master’s degree in International Relations and has experience studying conflicts and global arms transfers. His research interests lie in Security and strategic studies, particularly the dynamics of the defense industry, the evolution of military technologies, and the strategic transformation of armed forces.