Navy Halts New Orders of Aevex Drone Boats on Performance Issues

EXCLUSIVE Navy Halts New Orders of Aevex Drone Boats on Performance Issues The US Navy will no longer buy a highly prized — but ultimately troubled — drone speedboat manufactured by Aevex Corp.’s BlackSea after already spending more than $130 million on the technology, according to people briefed on the matter. Additional purchases of the global autonomous reconnaissance crafts, or GARCs, were suspended due to ongoing performance issues related to limitations to the hardware and the emergence of more suitable alternatives, including cheaper one-way attack drones, according to one of the people, who asked not to be identified discussing private matters. The decision came after the Navy program office that works on the platform commissioned an independent assessment, the person said.