We Build the Mechanical Layer of Your USVs
±«Óãtv Builds the Parts Your USV Program Wasn’t Staffed For
When a program moves from one demo hull to a delivery schedule, the bottleneck usually isn’t the hull or the autonomy stack. It’s the mechanical content around them: payload trays, antenna mast details, sealed compute housings, EMI shields, gasketed access panels, battery retention hardware, leak-test fixtures, handling carts, dock brackets and labeled spares kits. All of it has to survive salt, shock, UV and rough handling with no crew aboard to maintain it.
±«Óãtv builds that hardware. We’ve delivered 6,300+ mission-critical components for aerospace and defense programs, and marine work gets the same treatment: material pairing, coating stack-up, gasket compression and sealing features are reviewed before the quote goes out, so corrosion surfaces at print review instead of first-article rejection.
You get one supplier instead of six. Seven U.S. facilities cover CNC, sheet metal, additive, molding, photochemical machining and finishing under one quality system, one documentation thread and one accountable team, with an engineer on the phone the same day rather than three quote cycles later.
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One supplier for the whole mechanical layer
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Corrosion reviewed before the quote, not after the teardown
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Quick-turn parts when the payload changes
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Launch, recovery and spares hardware, not just the boat
Defense-Grade Credentials With Startup Agility
6,300+
25+
AS9100D
ITAR
Program-Grade Documentation Without the Prime Contractor Clock
Most contract manufacturers open by pitching an autonomous vessel builder on the hull. That is the one thing a shipyard or a vertically integrated USV factory will never hand over, which is why those conversations stall.
±«Óãtv is not the boatyard, the autonomy stack or the payload prime. ±«Óãtv is the responsive mechanical layer around all three. Four things make it work:
Multi-Site Domestic Manufacturing Across Seven U.S. Facilities
Selected ±«Óãtv facilities are ITAR-registered, so mechanical content around compute, radios, batteries and payloads carries no offshore exposure.
Multi-Process Routing Under One Accountable Partner
That includes CNC, precision sheet metal, photochemical machining, additive, molding, urethane casting, finishing, inspection, light assembly and kitting, so a second process does not mean a second engineering relationship.
DFM, DFQ & DFE Review Before the Quote
Our engineers work through fastener access, coating stack-up, sealing surfaces, thermal paths, cable routing, galvanic pairing and field serviceability.
One Unified Quality System
It includes revision control, lot traceability and documented inspection. Credentials include AS9100D and ISO 9001:2015 certification and ITAR registration, with CMMC Level 2 certification in process.
Your Expert USV Team
Andrew Sonier
Adam Villarreal
Sebastian
Wasikowski
Trey Harper
Mark Huffman
Ryan Uecker
Rate Does Not Break on the Hull. It Breaks on the Fixture Nobody Designed.
High-rate small USV lines are increasingly internalized, and they should be. What isn’t internalized are the hundreds of fixtures, nests, gauges, carts and packaging components a single production wave consumes, plus the specialty mechanical content wrapped around a deliberately low-cost hull.
±«Óãtv supplies that enablement layer so final assembly never waits on a bracket and manufacturing engineering gets its week back.
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Factory enablement hardware: Assembly jigs, leak-test fixtures, inspection nests, alignment tools, battery-handling aids and line-side carts designed per build station, from Hartland additive and Round Rock CNC.
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Specialty mechanical content: Payload and sensor plates, battery retention hardware, antenna and motor mounts, guards, drain and vent covers and rugged cases.
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Cost-down before volume locks in: DFM review that pulls cost and corrosion risk out of recurring mechanical content while the design can still move.
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Recurring waves and surge lots: 500 to 5,000 mechanical parts per production wave with lot labeling, revision tracking and kitting by build station.
Every New Mission Package Is Another Round of Mast Redesign
Persistent ISR craft carry more mission hardware than anything else on the water, and every customer arrives with a different radar, EO/IR turret, RF payload, SATCOM terminal or acoustic package. Endurance missions then leave all of it unattended in salt for months between service calls.
±«Óãtv runs the sensor integration layer so your engineers stay on autonomy, endurance and customer acceptance.
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Payload and mast hardware: Sensor brackets, antenna mast details, payload trays, adapter plates, camera shrouds and cable-routing brackets from precision CNC in Round Rock and Minneapolis.
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Rugged electronics packaging: Sealed compute and radio housings, cold plates, heat sinks, connector panels and cable-gland details from Denver and Minneapolis, with photochemically machined EMI shields and burr-free shims from Newark.
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Fit-check and validation: Additive fit-checks, urethane pilot covers, alignment tools and integration-bench aids from our Hartland, WI facility..
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Endurance sustainment: Gasketed replacement covers, connector guards, antenna shrouds and revision-controlled spares kits labeled by mission configuration.
The Payload Ships in Six Weeks. The Handling Fixture Was Never Quoted.
Mine countermeasure, ASW and survey missions push heavy, awkward and expensive payloads through launch, tow, recovery and transport cycles. The mechanical hardware that holds, aligns, protects and moves all of it tends to get scoped last and needed first.
±«Óãtv builds that hardware with load evidence and inspection documentation from the start, not added after a handling incident.
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Payload integration hardware: Towed-array support details, winch and sheave brackets, adapter plates, bulkhead mounts and equipment frames from CNC and precision sheet metal.
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Handling and transport: Cradles, lifting and tie-down hardware, protective covers, transport supports and packaging built for repeat deployment cycles.
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Test and inspection fixtures: Leak-test hardware, CMM fixtures, alignment nests and load-test plates for payload qualification.
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Shore-side support: Shipboard adapter plates, dock brackets, service tooling and labeled deployment kits.
The Hull Is a Shipyard Problem. The Other 900 Parts Are Yours.
Medium autonomous vessels move on shipyard schedules while their mission systems move on software schedules. The gap between the two fills up with brackets, panels, enclosures and mission-module details that the yard does not carry and the program cannot wait on.
±«Óãtv does not build hulls. ±«Óãtv builds the subsystem and support hardware that keeps small parts off a very large critical path.
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Mission-module and subsystem hardware: Adapter plates, equipment frames, bulkhead brackets, deck plates, access panels and hatch-adjacent details.
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Rugged enclosures and thermal hardware: Sealed housings, EMI shields, cold plates, connector panels and cable-management hardware for compute, power and comms.
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Qualification and bridge parts: Inspection-backed short runs, first-article documentation and bridge builds while the design and supplier base stabilize.
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Overflow capacity: Machined and fabricated content that absorbs schedule pressure without adding another qualified supplier to the program.
Same-Day Answers From an Engineer Who Signed Off on the Print
±«Óãtv is not a transactional machine shop. Nor are we a broker sending you automated quotes and generic DFM feedback. Our human-first approach is what makes the difference on hardware that has to work unattended in seawater.
Our engineers review your prints for sealing surfaces and gasket compression, coating stack-up, galvanic pairing, fastener access with gloves on, drainage, thermal paths, cable routing, EMI-adjacent details and field maintainability. Manufacturability problems surface at print review instead of first-article rejection or a post-deployment teardown.
That posture is what keeps a vessel program moving. A named program contact instead of a ticketing queue. An engineer on the phone the same day, not three quote cycles later. Revision management, lot traceability and inspection packages built into the flow rather than bolted on at the end.
So when a new payload variant lands or a delivery order doubles, the mechanical layer absorbs it instead of resetting your schedule. That is white-glove service applied to defense-grade manufacturing, and it is why fast-scaling maritime autonomy teams keep coming back to ±«Óãtv.
±«Óãtv Edgeworks: Built to Support Naval USV Programs
Our global sourcing solution provides autonomous vessel manufacturers with access to an extended network of sourcing options through one accountable ±«Óãtv team.
Our manufacturing capabilities support defense USV programs from prototyping through LRIP and recurring production, including precision internal components, ruggedized housings and structural parts matched to the right manufacturing source.
We’re Already Qualified for the Programs & Part Types That Look Like Yours
±«Óãtv already manufactures the mechanical layer for aerospace and defense programs that demand the same repeat-build discipline a USV production ramp requires, including Northrop Grumman targeting systems, Bell Textron flight programs and Able Aerospace MRO work. We’ve produced parts for multiple civilian and military USV partners.
We don’t build the hull. We’re the responsive mechanical and factory-enablement layer around them. The part types you need next are the ones we’re already making:
CNC-machined aluminum, stainless and titanium structural components
Includes sensor brackets, payload mounts, adapter plates and mount families for autonomous-systems programs.
Precision sheet-metal enclosures, panels and support structures
Includes covers, connector panels, carts and rugged field equipment built for harsh-service environments.
Photochemically machined components
shields, shims, screens and burr-free flat parts for RF and EMI-adjacent electronics packaging.
Additive-manufactured tooling, jigs and fixtures
Plus components used in ground and test equipment across multiple defense prime programs, all from seven ITAR-registered U.S. facilities with serialized lot control and dimensional inspection on every order.
Case Studies
What Every Autonomous Vessel Program Gets With ±«Óãtv
We do not replace the boatyard, the autonomy stack or your core build. We supply the mechanical layer around them.
We Complement Your Vertical Integration
We don’t replace your core capabilities. We provide the mechanical layer around them.
ITAR Registered & Multi-Site Domestic
Seven U.S. facilities, with second-source routing that doesn’t fragment engineering intent.
Built for Saltwater Service
Material pairing, coating stack-up, sealing features and corrosion documentation reviewed before the quote, not after the teardown.
Factory Enablement as a Product
Our engineers review fastener access, coating stack-up, cable routing and thermal paths before the quote goes out.
Prototype to Bridge to Rate
One team and one documentation thread as volumes grow from qualification sets to fleet spares.
Specialty Processes In-House
Photochemical shields and shims, mixed CNC, sheet metal, additive, molding, finishing and light assembly. All under one accountable partner.