Gibbs & Cox Inc., Arlington, Va., announced yesterday that the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) had awarded the company a multi-phase contract to develop and demonstrate a connectorless sea train concept. DARPA has exercised the base development phase for $9.45 million

Gibbs & Cox will leverage its capabilities to integrate advancements in integrated system design, robotic controls, autonomy, and hydrodynamic optimization. This new technical approach, coined by Gibbs & Cox as ARMADA (Articulated Resistance Minimized Autonomous Deployment Asset), seeks to reshape maritime vessel capabilities, enabling long-range deployments of medium-sized autonomous surface vessels without the need for either in-port or at-sea refueling.

DARPA’s selection of Gibbs & Cox for the sea train program, combined with our other recent awards, illustrates the company's expansion in the unmanned surface vehicle (USV) industry.